Editorial.indd 1 �EDI TO RIAL Wi th the be gin ni ng of this year, the jour nal you ha ve in your ha nd or read on in ter net, Geo lo gia Croa ti ca has (par tly) chan- ged Edi to rs-in-Chief. The for mer edi to rs Prof. Igor Vlahović and Dr. Ivo Velić resig ned wi th Ja nua ry 2008, be cau se the in- fl ow of ma nus crip ts dec li ned in re ce nt yea rs due to the fa ct that ar tic les pub lis hed in our jour nal we re not con si de red for scien ti fi c pro mo tion in Croa tia. They wan ted, and ha ve suc- ceded, in re mo ti va ti ng the Croa tian geo lo gi cal and lar ger scien- ti fi c com mu ni ty, and sin ce Ja nua ry 2008, ar tic les pub lis hed in Geo lo gia Croa ti ca wi ll be eli gib le for scien ti fi c pro mo tion. In this way they ha ve he lped to main tain the jour nal. Dr. Ivo Velić ag reed to be reap poin ted as edi tor in the tran si tio nal pe- riod to stre ss the con ti nui ty of edi to rial po li cy and to he lp the new inco mi ng edi tor, prof. Mla den Juračić, and the new edi- to rial boa rd. The edi to rs and the edi to rial boa rd are indeb ted to Prof. Igor Vlahović for all his ef fo rt and ti me he spe nt to im pro ve Geo lo gia Croa ti ca to be as good and ti me ly as it is now. He is, wit hout any dou bt, the per son mo st res pon sib le for the lar- ge im pro ve me nt in the scien ti fi c con te nt as we ll as the grap- hical edi ti ng, layout and web si te of the jour nal. This can be seen in the ac knowled ge men ts that the jour nal and the Edi- to rs ha ve been re cei vi ng over the la st 15 yea rs. A re ce nt e-mail from the wor ld re nowned and es tee med Pro fes sor Jo hn G. Ram say il lus tra tes this ve ry we ll: I was sad to hear that you are bo th re sig ni ng as Edi to rs of Geo lo gia Croa ti ca. When I re cei ved the jour nal on fi r st be- com mi ng a mem ber of the In ter na tio nal Scien ti fi c Ad vi so ry Boa rd I was extrem ly im pres sed wi th the qua li ty of the Jour- nal and its excel le nt mo de rn for mat. Howe ver I do see your prob le ms cau sed by the scien ce ci ta tion ba ses not bei ng wil li- ng to in clu de Geo lo gia Croa ti ca in their co ve ra ge. Howe ver, I do ho pe that the jour nal con ti nues be cau se it has al rea dy pub lis hed va luab le scien ti fi c ma te rial. Pro fes sor Pe ter W. Skel ton from Open Uni ver si ty, Mil ton Keynes, UK se nt si mi lar let ter: I shou ld li ke to re co rd my deep ap pre cia tion of the out- stan di ng de di ca tion of the pre vious Chief Edi to rs, Dr. Ivo Velić and Dr. Igor Vlahović, to get her wi th the sup po rt of the con ti- nui ng Ma na gi ng Edi tor, Ms. Ali sa Mar tek, to the main te nan ce of con sis ten tly hi gh edi to rial and pro duc tion stan dar ds of the jour nal and their great ef for ts to en han ce in ter na tio nal ac- ce ss to its con ten ts throu gh va rious geos cien ce da ta ba ses and the jour nal’s excel le nt web si te. I am con fi de nt that, if gi ven suf fi cie nt (a nd we ll-deserved) sup po rt from the na tio nal geos- cien ce in sti tu tio ns and, in deed, in ter na tio nal mem be rs of the geos cien ce re sear ch com mu ni ty wi th in te res ts in the re gion, the new Edi to rial Boa rd shou ld be ab le to bui ld on the so lid foun da tio ns laid by their pre de ce ssors and con ti nue to nur tu- re the im por ta nt pla ce of the jour nal in the geo lo gi cal li te ra- tu re and the hi gh re ga rd in whi ch it is he ld. When re ferri ng to this pe riod we wou ld li ke to stre ss the im por tan ce of our lan gua ge re viewer, Dr. Ju lie Rob son who se ef for ts ha ve con tri bu ted to the hi gh lan gua ge qua li ty of the ar- tic les and jour nal, es pe cial ly sin ce mo st aut ho rs are not En- gli sh na ti ve spea ke rs. Our jour nal Geo lo gia Croa ti ca has been con ti nuous ly pub- lis hed sin ce 1947 and is bei ng in dexed in al mo st all re le va nt da ta ba ses for the Geos cien ces (Geo Ref, Geo Ba se, Geo lo gi cal Ab strac ts, GeoAr chi ve, Geo tit les, Sco pus, etc.). Wi th this num- ber, Geo lo gia Croa ti ca en te rs its se ven th de ca de and we wi ll ma ke eve ry ef fo rt to try to bri ng the jour nal qua li ty and ti me- li ne ss to the le vel nee ded to en ter the Web of Scien ce (Thom- son Scien ti fi c). The sco pe of the jour nal wi ll re main broad, and we wou ld li ke to be co me a lea di ng re gio nal geos cien ce jour nal. Howe ver, we wou ld li ke to re cei ve mo re ma nus crip ts concer ning the Di na ri des, the Ad ria tic/Mediterranean re gion, Pan no nian Ba sin, and/or kar st is sues. We plan to in tro du ce an on li ne sub mis sion system ve ry soon and to stren gthen the ru les for the tec hni cal qua li ty of the ma nus crip ts re cei ved, in or der to im pro ve and shor ten the han- dli ng pe riod. Also, we de ci ded to publish 3 issues per year and to shift our publication dates fowards the beginning of the year (February, June, October). Ef fi cie nt and expe di tious han dli ng of ma nus crip ts is con strai ned by: (i) the edi to rial system (whi ch we wi ll try to im pro ve), (ii) the re view pro ce ss (iden ti fi ca tion of in di vi dua ls pre pa red to pro vi de de tai led re views in a rea so- Why (a nd how) to pub li sh in Geo lo gia Croa ti ca Geologia Croatica 61/1 1–2 0 Figs. 0 Tabs. Zagreb 2008 Geologia CroaticaGeologia Croatica � Editorial.indd 1Editorial.indd 1 24.6.2008 11:04:1524.6.2008 11:04:15 Geologia Croatica Geologia Croatica 61/1 2 nab le ti me, is always dif fi cu lt), and (iii) by aut ho rs’ di li gen ce in ob ser vi ng the pub li ca tion ru les of the jour nal. Many aut ho rs ca re ful ly read the in struc tio ns to aut ho rs and sub mit ma nus crip ts that are in ac cor dan ce wi th the gui de- li nes. They use a spel lchec ker. Su ch ma nus crip ts are ea si ly han dled, as the edi to rs can fo cus on the scien ti fi c con te nt alo ne. Howe ver, so me of the ma nus crip ts may be scien ti fi cal- ly sou nd, but suf fer from prob le ms whi ch the aut ho rs shou ld ad dre ss. Con si de ra tion of the poin ts be low wi ll con si de rab ly he lp aut ho rs wi th the pre sen ta tion of their wo rk. The se have been adap ted from anot her Edi to rial (BENNETT, 2007). In clu de a tes tab le hypot he sis – Scien ce is dri ven by hypot- he ses. Wit hout one, a pa per lac ks fo cus and ri gor. Open en ded scien ce is weak, of ten re pe ti ti ve, and unin te res ti ng. Ge ne ra ti- ng a hypot he sis (or we ll de fi ned ob jec ti ve) in ad van ce of doi- ng the wo rk tig hte ns up the stu dy and ma kes the re sul ts mo re mea nin gful. Ca re ful ly do cu me nt what you ha ve do ne – So that your lo ca tio ns can be re vi si ted, your ob ser va tio ns con fi r med, and/ or your expe ri me nt can be dup li ca ted by ot he rs. Pro vi de adequa te sta tis ti cal ana lysis of your da ta – If a stu dy in clu des the col lec tion of da ta, it is es sen tial they be ana- lysed sta tis ti cal ly. Wit hout sta tis ti cs the rea der wi ll ha ve no idea if the re sul ts mean anythi ng. Ci te a rea so nab le num ber of re fe ren ces – We all know the re are lot of pa pe rs on any sub je ct, so the re is no rea son to ci te them all. On ly exam ple pa pe rs need to be ci ted as we ll as spe ci fi c pa pe rs that are cri ti cal ly ad dres sed in the new stu dy. Ideal ly so mewhe re be tween 30 and 40 re fe ren ces are nee ded for the ave ra ge pa per, no mo re. And ob vious ly le ss than a do- zen re fe ren ces is too few. Keep it short – How ma ny of us ha ve ac tual ly read a 30+ pa ge pa per? Pro bab ly on ly the aut hor and one or two col lea- gues wor ki ng in the sa me fi e ld. Lo ng pa pe rs suf fer from ver- bo si ty and are te dious to read. The ideal pa per len gth is so- mewhe re arou nd a do zen prin ted pa ges, whi ch is le ss than 2000 wor ds on ave ra ge. Fol low the jour nal style – Che ck the Gui de for Aut ho rs and be su re to fol low the jour na l’s style for the va rious sec- tio ns of your pa per. Ma ke su re your sub mis sion is al so com- ple te. So me lea ve out the keywor ds, abstra ct and tit le pa ge. Fol low the Et hi cal Gui de li nes – Re ce nt fai lu res to fol low the Et hi cal Gui de li nes for Aut ho rs ha ve in clu ded mul tip le sub- mis sion of a pa per to mo re than one jour nal, and pla gia ri sm of pre vious ly pub lis hed wo rk by anot her aut hor. The se are groun ds for im me dia te re jec tion. Ma ke the En gli sh rea dab le – If En gli sh is not your na ti ve lan gua ge it is im por ta nt to ha ve a na ti ve En gli sh spea ker/writ- er edit your sub mis sion so the En gli sh is rea dab le. If your sub mis sion fol lows the se poin ts the re is a good chan ce that the ma nus cri pt wi ll be ac cep ted. Of cour se the fi - nal de ter mi na tion on a pa per de pen ds on the scien ti fi c con te nt. Anot her impor ta nt be ne fi t is the ove ra ll im pro ve me nt of the qua li ty of our jour nal, so that rea der frus tra tion is re du ced. We all know what a plea su re it is to read a good pa per. Wi th a lit- tle extra wo rk, aut ho rs cou ld wri te mu ch bet ter pa pe rs that wou ld ma ke sig ni fi ca nt con tri bu tio ns to knowled ge and be of great he lp to reade rs and ot her scien tis ts. So when you de ci de to sub mit your next ma nus cri pt to Geo lo gia Croa ti ca plea se se nd mail to our Ma na gi ng Edi tor Ms Ali sa Mar tek (edi to rial.offi ce@geologia-croatica.hr) or/ and to us (edi to r@geologia-croatica.hr). RE FE REN CES BENNETT, J.P. (2007) Sim ple gui de li nes to fol low in pre pa ri ng a ma- nus cri pt for sub mis sion to Scien ce of the To tal En vi ronment (Edi to- rial). – Scien ce of the To tal En vi ron., 387, 1–2 Mladen Juračić and Ivo Velić Editorial.indd 2Editorial.indd 2 26.6.2008 9:16:0326.6.2008 9:16:03