Guidelines for Contributors

Revised March 2024

Proceedings and Papers of the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California

Proceedings and Papers of the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California, also referred to as Proceedings, is the official publication of the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California (MVCAC). The Proceedings is published once each year and includes papers based on presentations given at the Association's annual conference, including those for the Reeves Young Investigator Award competition. Submission of papers not presented at the MVCAC annual conference is also encouraged. The Proceedings publishes articles on the biology, ecology and control of mosquitoes and other vectors of disease. Papers, extended abstracts, and short abstracts are grouped within symposia as presented at the conference.

CONTRIBUTIONS: A contribution to the Proceedings is expected from every speaker or poster presenter at the annual meeting of the MVCAC. A full paper is encouraged; however, presenters may submit an “extended abstract” or at minimum an ‘abstract.’ Because the Proceedings is not ‘peer reviewed,’ publication will not preclude submission of a full manuscript elsewhere.

Submissions should be original contributions in the field of vector biology, ecology and/or control, and provide information on scientific and technical development, operations and programs, and management. Papers that previously have been submitted or published may be submitted as an abstract or an extended abstract if it substantially extends or summarizes the previous content. Although deference is given to papers from the conference program, acceptability of submitted material rests on merit as determined by the Editor. Papers in the Proceedings will be edited for English, clarity, and format. Articles requiring editing or that do not conform to style and Guidelines will be returned to the author for revision.

MANUSCRIPT FORMAT: Manuscripts will only be accepted electronically. The body of the text, table headings and figure legends must be double spaced in Times New Roman font 12 and submitted as a Microsoft Word or .docx file. In addition to the manuscript text, images of all tables, figures or photographs must be submitted electronically and should be in black and white, although full color will be accepted when warranted. Each table and figure should be submitted as a separate image file preferably in TIFF, JPEG, .PNG or .ppt format. Authors should print each image file before submission to ensure that all text on the figure are legible when reduced for publication in either 1 (3 inch) or 2 column (6.25 inch) format. Authors should reference all Tables/Figures (e.g., Table 1 or Fig. 1) as their content is presented as well as indicate placement within the body of the text (e.g., Place Fig. 1 here). All manuscripts including extended abstracts should be submitted by the announced deadline posted on the MVCAC website, typically 2-3 months following the end of the conference. If no manuscript or extended abstract is received by the deadline, the abstract submitted before the conference will be considered as that author’s contribution to the Proceedings. Articles received after submission deadlines may be returned for resubmission in the next year’s issue of the

Proceedings. Authors should refer to the most recent issue of the Proceedings and Papers of the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California for style and format.

The Proceedings subscribes to the scientific abbreviations of mosquito genera presented in the Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association. Bi-letter generic and tri-letter subgeneric abbreviations are used for Culicidae. All scientific names should be in italics. Common abbreviations (et al., i.e., etc.) are not italicized. Use of the metric system (with English measurements in parenthesis) is encouraged. Footnotes may not be used in the body of the text.

SUBMITTED PAPERS: Manuscripts (other than presentations at the conference) submitted for publication in the Proceedings will be reviewed by the Editor with the assistance of the Research Committee as needed. A nonmember author wishing to publish in the Proceedings is required to pay the registration fee for the conference in lieu of page charges.

FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS FOR SUBMITTED PAPERS OR ABSTRACTS: Submitted papers should be in the form of either (1) an extended abstract or (2) a research article, formatted as described below. Manuscript sections are similar for the two formats, with the primary difference being that extended abstracts should include no more than one or two paragraphs per section, whereas a submitted paper should include greater detail consistent with standards for peer-reviewed scientific literature. Extended abstracts should not exceed 1500 words in length and should not include an Abstract. Suggested manuscript sections with formatted examples in blue are presented below along with suggested minimal requirements for extended abstracts. Some papers may not fit well into this format, but all papers should have an ‘Introduction’ or objectives explaining why the paper was written, ‘Results’ or observations, and ‘Conclusions’ summarizing what was learned or developed.   

Title: 

Title of your paper 

Example: Drone-mounted aerial larviciding: early evidence from field trials

Authors: 

List names of authors without titles or degrees, use footnotes if from separate affiliations Example: A. Paige Turner¹, Monty S. Carlo², and Will U. Membrit^1*

Affiliations:

Give name of organization, city, and ZIP code; use footnotes if more than one affiliation, should match footnotes above; use * to indicate the corresponding author, one per paper

Example:

1 Anytown Mosquito Abatement District, Anytown, CA 98765

2 Institute for Statistical Analysis, University of Hard Knocks, Nexttown, CA 98764

*Corresponding author: Example: willumembrit@anytownmad.org

Abstract: 

Short summary of the objectives, results, and conclusions.

Introduction: 

2-3 sentences for “Extended Abstracts”, or longer for full-length papers. Use this section to establish (1) the importance of the problem you are addressing, (2) the knowledge gap that makes your study needed, and (3) the overall aim(s) of your study.

Methods: 

2-3 sentences for “Extended Abstracts”, or longer for full-length papers. Describe your methods in enough detail to allow readers to repeat your experiment(s) and understand your results. Use References if Methods were adapted from previous papers.

Results and Discussion:

3-5 sentences for “Extended Abstracts”, or longer for full-length papers. Describe your study findings, interpret the findings, and compare them to those of other studies as applicable. Refer to figures and tables as necessary, such as Fig. 1. [Submit figures and tables as separate files.]

Conclusions:

1-3 sentences for all submissions. Use this final section to summarize your findings in the form of a “take- home message” after considering all your results and those of other studies.

Acknowledgements:

Use this section to thank contributors who are not authors and to acknowledge any funding sources for your project.

References Cited:

Text citation should be by 1^st author last name and date. If more than one author, use et al:  e.g.  (Wheeler et al. 2022). List all references alphabetically by first author’s last name and date of publication, formatted according to the ESA Journal style based on the Council of Science Editors 8^th Edition Name-year style, as seen in the Journal of Medical Entomology. Examples are shown for two articles, a book chapter, and website.

Evans, MA and HH Munro. 2013 Article title.  J. Abbr. 00: 000–000.

Evans, MA, A Tyler, and HH Munro. 2014. Article title.  J. Abbr. 00: 000–000.

Tyler, A. 2015.  Article or chapter title, pp. 000–000. In TAJ Royer and RB Burns (eds.), Book title.

Publisher, city, state abbreviation or country

(CDPH) California Department of Public Health. 2016. Web page title. Complete URL (protocol://host.name/path/file.name) and/or DOI (Digital Object Identifier). Indicate date cited.

Captions for Figures and Tables: Captions should be included as text in a separate labeled section at the end of the submitted manuscript, and NOT be incorporated into the table or illustration. Captions should include enough information so that the figure or table can be understood on its own, outside the text of the manuscript.

Page Numbering: Number pages consecutively in the lower right corner. Tables and figures must be submitted as separate files as noted above.

Tables: Tables should be limited to those strictly necessary and should be prepared with regard to the ultimate printed size of one (3 inch) or two columns (6.25 inches). Each table should be referenced within the text and location position suggested. Avoid long and complex tables. Tables will be reproduced exactly as submitted, so authors should ensure proper font size and placement of columns. See example below:

Illustrations: Figures, graphs, line drawings and photographs must be submitted electronically as separate files using .TIFF, .JPEG, .PNG or .ppt format. Figures should be numbered consecutively. As with tables, illustrative materials must be planned to fit within a one (3 inch) or two (6.25 inch) column format. Figures that are not clearly legible or that reproduce poorly will not be accepted for publication. Original lines and text (especially y and x-axes) must be legible after reduction for print production. Although black and whiter should be used for graphs, color may be used if needed. 

PROOF AND REPRINTS: Prior to publication, authors will receive a PDF proof for final approval. Carefully check your proof before acceptance. Major revisions at this stage will not be accepted. Proofs with corrections, if any, should be returned within seven days to the MVCAC office following instructions provided with the proof. Authors will be provided with a high-quality PDF of their manuscript suitable for sharing.

MVCAC OFFICE CONTACT INFORMATION:

Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California (MVCAC) One Capitol Mall, Suite 800 Sacramento, California 95814

Phone: 916-440-0826      Fax: 916-231-2141

Editor: William K. Reisen, Ph.D. Phone: 530-304-3932

E-mail: wkreisen@gmail.com

Submit manuscripts and extended abstracts by email to both Editor William Reisen [wkreisen@ucdavis.edu] and MVCAC representative Matthew Peralta [Mperalta@amgroup.us]. Please reference in the email whether the submission is a full paper or an extended abstract. If the title has been changed from what was presented at the MVCAC annual conference, please reference the original presentation title.