Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology
Instructions for Authors

Please click here to download a PDF version of these Instructions.

Authorship in Bergey's Manual is by invitation only. Due to the nature of this publication, unsolicited manuscripts cannot be accepted. However, if you believe a taxonomic group has been overlooked, please contact the Editorial Office.

If you are an invited author, please use the instructions below as you prepare your chapter(s).

Basic Checklist

In order to expedite communication between the authors and the Editors, we are using email to correspond wherever possible.

Please email your Editor and cc the Editorial Office with the manuscript prepared as follows:

Editorial review

All manuscripts will be sent by the Editors to other authorities in the field for review and comment. Reviewers will be acknowledged in a special section of the Manual. Although final decisions concerning the disposition of a reviewer's comments will usually be left to the discretion of the author(s), it is essential to have these comments and criticisms before a final version of a chapter is prepared for publication.

Word-processing instructions

Sample chapters

Use of Gram terminology

As pointed out by Jürgen Wiegel in 1981 (see paper here), the Gram terminology is frequently ambiguous. In particular, the terms Gram-positive and Gram-negative are often used to describe the phylogenetic placement of taxa in addition to the cell's staining properties. Thus, some bacteria that stain Gram-negative are in the phylogenetic lineage of "Gram-positive" bacteria. In the future, Bergey's will restrict the usage of "Gram" to the staining properties. Thus, the terms Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and Actinobacteria are preferred when discussing the "Gram-negative", "low-G+C Gram-positive" and "high-G+C Gram positive" bacterial groups. When describing Gram-staining reactions, the terms Gram-stain-positive, Gram-stain-negative and Gram-stain-variable, or variants thereof, should be used.

Textual conventions

Illustrations

Authors are encouraged to use illustrations wherever necessary to clarify a description or a key. All illustrations, both line-drawings and continuous tone images, will be incorporated into the text. Continuous gray-scale images can be prepared from color graphics. Authors will receive proofs of each illustration to ensure accuracy in labeling.

Line drawings

You should provide:

Photographs and micrographs

Figure legends

Legends should appear at the end of each chapter. Number figures consecutively as they appear in the text. In preparing legends, avoid repetition of information provided in the text. A scale bar must be given on micrographs so that dimensions can be determined by the reader even after reduction for printing.

Credits for figures

If you are borrowing an illustration or using a previously published illustration, insert the appropriate credit line in parentheses at the end of the figure legend (see also the section on Permissions below).

References

Examples

Permissions and Copyright

You need to obtain written permission from the original author and the copyright holder (usually the publisher) for:

As specified by the original publisher, give credit, usually in the legends (see above), for borrowed figures. If the materials you will use appeared in the First Edition of the Manual, no additional permissions are required.

Submit to the Editorial Office all letters granting permissions for the use of previously published materials and all waivers. These documents will be retained in the publisher's permanent files. Download the permission request form here. In addition, please complete and sign the Copyright Transfer Statement and return it to the Editorial Office.

Citing a defining publication

Citations of defining publications appear in chapter headings and species lists. Please include all author names and the page on which the species (or genus, family, etc.) description appears (not the first page of the article).

Synonyms

Synonyms of generic names will be used only if they are on the Approved Lists or have been subsequently validly published. Likewise, with species the basonym will be used along with any valid synonyms, and, in rare cases, an invalid synonym that would be important to workers in the field. Authors are free to use their name of choice, but should provide a brief history of nomenclatural changes since 1980.

New names and combinations

The Board of Trustees will allow the publication of some new names and combinations in the Manual. Authors must be aware of the rules for valid publication in the 1990 edition of the Bacteriological Code (Rules 27-32b). These rules require that notice of a new name or combination must be published in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology (IJSEM), formerly International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology (IJSB), for a name to be validly published. The Editor-in-Chief will be responsible for these notices. Also, it is preferable that newly described genera or species be first published in the IJSEM or another journal rather than the Manual. The Trust would prefer that new names appearing in the Manual be restricted to combinations or names of taxa above the rank of genus.

Revival of old names

If you are proposing a description under a name which was published prior to 1980 but that did not appear on the Approved Lists of Bacterial Names, then the name must be revived according to Rule 28a of the Bacteriological Code. Names that were published before January 1, 1980 need to be validated in a list in IJSEM/IJSB before the Manual goes to print.

Tables

Data presented in tabular form is preferred over textual presentation, even if only one taxon is involved. There are two main categories of tables: tables that differentiate taxa and tables of descriptive data. Differentiation tables should contain only the most important differentiation data. See Volumes 1 or 2 of the Second Edition of the Manual for examples or the sample articles mentioned above.

Standardized symbols

Without footnotes, the following symbols mean:

Symbol Meaning
+ 90% or more of the strains are positive
- 10% or less of the strains are positive
d 11-89% of the strains are positive
v strain instability (not equivalent to “d”)
D different reactions in different taxa (species of a genus or genera of a family)

Do not provide descriptive matter in tables unless the result is a more compact presentation of the data. Descriptive data should comprise one- or two-word descriptions of a character state that would be less clear if expressed in symbols.

Table preparation

If tables are formatted consistently and properly, we can avoid considerable delays at the editorial and pre-production stage.

Tables spanning multiple pages should be kept to a minimum. If multiple-page tables are necessary, please use the Heading Rows Repeat function in Word's Tables editor to indicate repeated headings.

Column headings

Use taxonomic names as column headings, type species first and additional species following in alphabetic order.

Genus chapters

Defining publication

(see Citing a defining publication )

Genus name, author, date, page of description in effective publication, and if the name comes from the Approved Lists, the letters AL (in italics) as superscripts. Names validly published since January 1980 should be marked VP (in italics) as superscripts, and a name neither in the Approved Lists nor validly published since should be placed in double quotation marks wherever it occurs.

Authors are encouraged to check the procaryotic checklist maintained at the Bergey's web site to ascertain the proper form.

Your name(s) (As author(s) of the chapter)

Etymology

Follow the format used in Volumes 1 and 2 of the Second Edition of Bergey's Manual.

Generic definition

This should be a brief paragraph that gives the important features that describe the genus and that separate it from all other genera. Make sure that the definition matches the key to the genera in the family, order, and higher divisions. Use the following order of presentation of features: morphology, Gram reaction, flagellar arrangement, relationship to oxygen, cultural characteristics, physiology, nutrition, DNA base ratio (with method of determination), key aspects of the 16S rDNA sequence (if available), and signature sequence (if available). Indicate with boldface type the most important features of the genus. Minimize the number of features that are not shared by all species.

Type species

List the type species of the genus with the author, year, and page of description (See Citing a defining publication ).

Further descriptive information

This section should contain a full description of the genus, including characteristics that are not necessarily shared by all the species. Please use the following order of feature groups and include illustrations where needed. If special media or growth conditions are mentioned, include formulae and other pertinent information in a brief footnote.

Enrichment and isolation procedures

Briefly summarize current methods used in the isolation of members of the genus. Give methodology for one or two of the best methods, and cite references for other methods.

Maintenance procedures

Briefly summarize methods or conditions necessary for the proper maintenance of cultures of members of the genus, e.g., best media for subculturing, whether they lyophilize well or if liquid nitrogen storage is required. Give methodology, if brief, or cite pertinent references.

Procedures for testing special characters

Briefly summarize methods needed to test for the presence of features where special, defined methods are required. The features tested should be ones important for identification of the genus of various species. Include any special “trick of the trade”. (Note: This should include information regarding probe sequences and specificity, PCR amplification conditions, etc.).

Differentiation from other closely related taxa

This material, if given, may be either in a narrative form or a small table.

Taxonomic comments

This section should include discussion of the following:

Where alternative taxonomic viewpoints exist they should be discussed, even if the author does not accept them.

Miscellaneous comments

or "Further comments". Include here comments not covered by the above categories.

Acknowledgements

(e.g., sources of strain material, subcommittee members, technical help).

Further reading

For an overview of the genus or special attributes of the genus. Limit this to a few references.

Tables to the species

Use the following order for tables, and include at least a diagnostic table and a descriptive table. See the sample chapter here

Phylogenetic trees

In constructing trees, authors should include all validly named members of a taxon for which quality, full length sequences are available (> 1300 nts and < 3% ambiguity). Trees should also include representatives of sister taxa. It is also important that phylogenetic trees be presented in a consistent fashion and include bootstrap values and a bar (scale) indicating evolutionary distance. Authors should also be reasonable in their selection of outgroup members. All phylogenetic trees should be accompanied by a separate file containing a list of taxa and accession numbers used. These will be used in creating an index that includes references to trees.

Upon request, the Editorial Office can provide each author with a suitable tree for inclusion in their respective chapters. These trees will be drawn using aligned sequences from the RDP based upon maximum likelihood. All masks used in constructing the trees will be specified.

Authors are free to include other trees in their chapters should they wish to do so, especially where there may be areas of ambiguity or disagreement. They should, however, be prepared to provide the reader with a clear understanding of their reasoning. Any aligned sequences used in such trees should be made publicly available so that readers may explore the alternative models on their own, should they choose to do so.

List of species

Each validly named species should be listed (i.e., the name has appeared on the Approved Lists or has been subsequently validated). Assign each species a number, beginning with the type species, and arrange additional species in alphabetic order. If species without valid names are included, place them at the end of the species list. Include the following in this order:

Infrasubspecific divisions

Terms that will be used for infrasubspecific subdivisions are shown in the table, following the Revised Code of Nomenclature. The "-var" or "-form" suffix will continue to be used to replace "-type". This eliminates confusion with the strict use of the term "type" to mean nomenclatural type. This concept will be reiterated in the introduction to the Manual.

Name Synonyms Notes
Biovar Biotype, physiological type Biochemical or physiological properties
Chemoform Chemotype Chemical constitution
Chemovar Production or the amount of production of a particular chemical
Cultivar A cultivated strain with special properties
Forma specialis Special form A parasitic, symbiotic or commensal microorganism distinguished primarily by adaptation to a particular host or habitat. Named preferably by the scientific name of the host in the genitive
Morphovar Morphotype Morphological characteristics
Pathovar Pathotype Pathogenic reactions in one or more hosts
Phagovar Phagotype, lysotype Reactions to bacteriophage
Phase Restrict to well-defined stages of naturally occurring alternating variations
Serovar Serotype Antigenic characteristics
State Colonial variants, e.g., rough, smooth, mucoid (may be defined antigenically)

The term “group” is informal and may be useful to designate a set of organisms on which further studies are desirable before giving it a formal name.

Species Incertae Sedis

If a listing of species of uncertain affiliation is necessary for your treatment of a taxon, then only include those for which there is a name, a description, and a deposited culture. This section may include organisms whose names appear on the Approved Lists, Validation Lists, or have only been effectively published. There is no set format for this section, and the Bacteriological Code should be consulted for advice on the revival of old names. List species consecutively by number, and give author, year and page of description.

Species Candidatus

Authors are encouraged to include taxa that have been accorded provisional status using the Candidatus category (Murray and Schleifer, IJSB 44: 176; Murray and Stackebrandt, IJSB 45: 186). Authors should conform to the guidelines set forth in the latter reference; however, for the sake of clarity, all features should be spelled out rather than abbreviated. As provisional names are not currently considered as valid, they should be enclosed in quotes. The order of features is as follows:

Other organisms

Listed here with a brief description are un-named organisms that appear to be of sufficient importance to warrant inclusion and that appear to have some affiliation with the genus.

Genera Incertae Sedis

Although 16S sequence analysis has proven highly useful in placing taxa into a consistent and useful taxonomy, there may yet be genera that are insufficiently defined or whose relationship to other genera remains unclear. The determination of which genera are placed into this category will be decided jointly by the author of the genus and the Editors. The treatment of Genera Incertae Sedis should follow the same format used for other genera.

Higher taxa chapters

This section will vary with the taxonomic level and should follow the outline provided by the Editorial Office . Authors are encouraged to discuss any regions within the outline where they may disagree. For each taxonomic rank, there should be the following order of presentation:

It is especially crucial that some kind of key or table be included that includes the Candidatus genera and genera incertae sedis. If these genera are not well-defined, a synopsis may be more appropriate. Candidatus genera and genera incertae sedis cannot simply be placed at the end of a chapter.