Information For Authors

Guide for Authors

Földtani Közlöny is the Bulletin of the Hungarian Geological Society. The aim of the journal is to publish new scientific results about or in connection with the geology of the Carpatho-Pannonian area in Hungarian or in English. Research articles, short communications, reviews and discussions are well-come. According to the aim of the bulletin we accept manuscripts covering a wide scope of earth sciences. Manuscripts outside the scope of the bulletin will be refused by the editor on the opinion of the Editorial Board.

Manuscripts can be submitted via the website of the Földtani Közlöny after registration. Manuscripts should be submitted for peer review as a single pdf file with the numbered figures placed at the end of the text. By submitting a manuscript the authors state that it is original, it has not been published either in English or in any other languages elsewhere; the authors do not intend to submit the same content to any other forums; and all authors agreed on submitting it.

In case of any technical problems please contact the technical editor (babinszki.edit@mbfsz.gov.hu) or the editor-in-chief (sztano.orsolya@gmail.com).

Types of manuscripts

Original research articles communicate unpublished data and results placed and discussed in a broader scientific context, which results in independent, new scientific conclusions.

Short Communications publish data and information too scarce for an independent article (such as documentation of short-lived outcrops; isolated, yet unknown data etc.) so as to be saved for the future of the scientific community. Another aim may be publishing new results quickly in favour of priority.

Review articles do not contain independent, new scientific results but allow an overview of the new results or new methods of a certain discipline that promote further development. Its scientific language must be of particularly clear for the broad geoscientist community.

Discussions of previously published papers can be submitted within six months after publishing the challenged article. The answer to the discussion will appear in the same issue.

Geology in Practice accepts papers, short communications and reviews from the fields of exploration and mining, which do not has a scientific conclusion, but aims to inform the broader scientific community.

Concise text, data that supports conclusions, precise terminology as well as clarity are basic requirements in all genres.

The bulletin also publishes short news in connection with the social and scientific life of the Hungarian Geological Society, reports of conferences and book reviews. If you would like to send us any short news, please feel free to contact the news editor (cserny.tibor@gmail.com).

Publishing criteria

(compulsory, recommended)

  1. Title

Short, informative and object-oriented, refers to the main message.

  1. Author(s), affiliation, E-mail, ORCID. Postal address is not needed.
  2. Abstract

It contains a brief coverage of the aim of the paper, the used methods, the most important new results and conclusions. It must be no longer than 300 words. It should not contain references and abbreviations.

  1. Keywords

8 words/expression at most, do not repeat words that are part of the title.

  1. Introduction

A summary of the most important scientific problems and results known from the literature Focus on those which are closely connected to the discussed subject. Please avoid writing an extended research history or prefiguring results.

  1. Material and methods

A review of the study material as well as former data, their origin, the applied measuring and evaluating devices and methods together with references.

In case of standard procedures only the differences from the referred method need to be explained.

  1. Results

The topic unfolded: a review and a documentation of the new data and achieved scientific results with clear figures and tables, separated by sub-heads if necessary.

  1. Discussion

A comparison of the new results with that of former studies and positioning of the new results in a wider scientific scope, a highlighting the novelty of the results.

  1. Conclusions

A thesis-like briefing without repeating the results and the discussion.

  1. Acknowledgements

In addition to personal side, organizations that provided data, software or financial sources must be mentioned here.

  1. References

It contains references mentioned in the text, figures and tables (no more, no less). In the case of paleontological works there is no need to refer the describers of taxons, except for synonym lists.

  1. Figures, tables and photo panels

Illustration must support understanding of the studied phenomenon, formation or conslusions.  Please avoid repetition of data.

  1. Figure, table and photo captions

A short, concise explanation of the illustrations.

  1. Digital supplement

It is possible to attach large datasets, maps or detailed descriptions that would not be printed, but published online only.

Technical requirements

The length of papers in case a research article or a review should not exceed 20 typographic pages (text, figures, tables, photos, photo tables together). Any papers longer than that can be published only if the authors cover the expenses of the extra pages. The price of a typographic page is 4,650 Ft +5% VAT. Usually a manuscript (Times New Roman, 12 letter size, simple linespacing, 2.5 cm margins) with an average amount and size of figures, together with references and figures does not exceed 30 pages. In other words, a typographic page bears 5,000 characters without figures.

The maximum length of an short communications is 4 typographic pages.

The text should be submitted in doc, docx or rtf format. Do not use automatic numbering at headings or paragraphs, the level of headings should be marked only by typography. Only three different levels of headings are accepted. Do not use tabulator to start a paragraph. Do not use footnotes; if it cannot be avoided, they will be shown at the end of the paper as numbered endnotes.

Authors’ names in references and in the bibliography should be written in small capitals, fossil species and genus names should be put in italic, the descriptors of species also in small capitals. Words written in all capitals are to be avoided.

All figures and tables should be referred to in the text at least once in their proper sequence, in the proper place. Units should be in SI system.

References within the text should be written as follows: in case of one author (Radócz 1974), in case of two authors (Galácz & Vörös 1972), in case of three or more authors (Kubovics et al. 1987). In case of more than one references they should follow in chronological order (Galácz & Vörös 1972; Radócz 1974, 1982; Kubovics et al. 1987). If the authors are the subject of a sentence, they should be written as Radócz (1974), Galácz & Vörös (1972) or Kubovics et al. (1987). References should be listed in alphabetical order at the end of the paper. In the references, papers with two authors should follow those of the first named author, arranged in alphabetical order according to the name of the second author. Papers with three or more authors should be ordered following the name of the first author in chronological order.

Please write out the whole title of the journals in italics. If the referred paper has got a DOI number, its whole URL should be given after the page numbers. The DOI numbers can be searched for in the search.crossref.org website by the title of the paper, book or book chapter. Many journals have given DOI numbers to papers retroactively, so an earlier publishing year does not guarantee the lack of DOI number. In case of non-periodic publications or manuscripts, please put the title of the work in italics.

Csontos, L., Nagymarosy, A., Horváth, F. & Kovác, M. 1992: Tertiary evolution of the intra-Carpathian area: A model. — Tectonophysics 208, 221–241. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951(92)90346-8

Jámbor Á. 1998: A Tiszai nagyszerkezeti egység karbon üledékes képződményei rétegtanának ismertetése. — In: Bérczi I. & Jámbor Á. (szerk.): Magyarország geológiai képződményeinek rétegtana. MOL Rt. — MÁFI kiadvány, Budapest, 173–185.

Varga A. 2009: A dél-dunántúli paleozoos–alsó-triász sziliciklasztos kőzetek kőzettani és geokémiai vizsgálatának eredményei. — PhD thesis, ELTE Kőzettan–Geokémiai Tanszék, Budapest, 150 p.

Weaver, C. E. 1989: Clays, Muds, and Shales. — Developments in Sedimentology 44, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 819 p. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0070-4571(08)x7036-0.

If you use reference-handling softwares (endnote, mendeley, zotero) the Földtani Közlöny style template can be downloaded here.

Illustrations should be submitted in excellent quality. The maximum size for figures, tables, photos is 170×240 mm. The maximum height for photo tables is only 230 mm. Lines should be at least 0.3 mm thick, letter size should be no less than 6 points. Please use uniform style in the figures with uniform, simple captions. Digital figures, panels or graphs should be saved in cdr format (X4 or earlier version), Excel tables should be saved in Word format, Excel graphs should be saved in cdr format. If a figure cannot be converted into cdr format, please submit line drawings in 1,200 dpi tif format, greyscale photos in 600 dpi, colour photos in 300 dpi tif or jpg format. Please note, that there might be slight colour differences between the printed and the online versions of your paper. In order to get excellent print quality coloured illustrations must use CMYK profile. If you prefer perfect colours online, please use the RGB profile. Expenses of colour figures and photos should be covered by the authors, 1-4 pages costs 36,500 Ft +5% VAT. If you cannot pay the extra fees, please use black and white or grayscale illustrations. Please put a scale on the photos of fossils, minerals, thin sections etc.

About the review

When submitting a paper, authors are asked to name at least four potential reviewers. Please provide their email addresses. The paper is sent to at least two reviewers on the decision of the editorial board. The reviewers are asked to prepare their review in three weeks.

The section editor and the editor-in-chief decide on the acceptance, revision or rejection of the work, asking for the opinion of the editorial board in controversial cases. The editor-in-chief informs the author(s) about the decision.

The revised manuscript has to be sent back within one or two months after the decision, depending on if minor or major changes are required. The manuscript should be resubmitted, similarly to the first submission, as one pdf to facilitate the task of the section editor and, if necessary, the next round of reviewing. The authors are asked to attach a list to the revised manuscript to indicate how they have taken the reviewers’ general and detailed comments and suggestions into account. If the authors disagree with the reviewers scientific arguments, justification is needed.  At resubmission, the text, figures, tables, photos of the  paper should also be uploaded one by one in the required format via the editorial surface ('Revisions').  During submission, the authors are asked to fill in the online copyright notice, with which they assign the utilization rights to the Hungarian Geological Society. The Földtani Közlöny indicates the date of arrival of the manuscript. 

Proofreading is the task of the authors. No off-prints are available.

The former as well as the new issues of the Földtani Közlöny and their whole content are open access from 2017 on the decision of the presidency of the Hungarian Geological Society and they can be freely downloaded from the website of the journal.