THE JOURNAL OF CRYPTOZOOLOGY.
With the demise of Kraken, and in particular, Cryptozoology (published by the now-defunct International Society of Cryptozoology), there has been no peer-reviewed scientific journal devoted to cryptozoology for quite some time. Consequently, the Journal of Cryptozoology is launched herewith to remedy this situation and fill a notable gap in the literature of cryptids and their investigation. For although some mainstream zoological journals are beginning to show slightly less reluctance than before to publish papers with a cryptozoological theme, it is still by no means an easy task for such papers to gain acceptance, and as a result, potentially significant, serious contributions to the subject are not receiving the scientific attention they deserve. Now, however, they have a journal of their own once again, and one that adheres to the same high standards for publication as mainstream zoological periodicals.
To that end an impressive peer review panel has been assembled, currently numbering ten members in total (although this may increase in the future), consisting of some of the world's most eminent zoologists and associated researchers in their respective fields. And I am honoured to have been invited by the journal's originator and publisher, CFZ Press, to become editor - an invitation that I am delighted to accept.
It is planned that each volume of the Journal of Cryptozoology should contain at least four papers. These can be discussion or review articles concerning a given cryptozoological subject, research-related papers, or field reports. Details concerning the required presentation formats for these contributions can be found on the journal's inside back cover and are also included below.
Down through the decades, cryptozoology has been defined in different ways by different researchers, with some definitions much more restrictive than others. Consequently, it is important to make clear the definition – and therefore the scope of subjects available for papers – to which this journal adheres. For the purposes of relevance to this journal, a cryptid is a creature that is known to the local people sharing its domain (ethnoknown) but unrecognised by scientists. Such a creature may be any of the following:
1) A species or subspecies allegedly unknown to science, including alleged prehistoric survivors (e.g. mokele-mbembe).
2) A species or subspecies presently unknown to science in the living state, but which is known to have existed in historical times and allegedly still persists today (e.g. thylacine).
3) A species or subspecies known to science but allegedly existing as a natural occurrence in a location outside its scientifically-recognised current geographical distribution (e.g. puma in the eastern USA).
4) A species or subspecies known to science but allegedly existing as an artificial occurrence (i.e. due to human intervention) in a location outside its scientifically-recognised geographical distribution (e.g. alien big cats in Britain).
5) An unrecognised non-taxonomic variant of a known species or subspecies (e.g. Fujian blue tiger).
In addition, papers dealing with fabulous, mythological beasts will be considered for publication in the journal if their subjects have direct relevance to cryptids (e.g. reviewing the similarity between a given lake monster from folklore and cryptids reported in that same lake in modern times).
Some cryptozoological researchers prefer to impose a lower size limit for cryptids, arguing that a crucial aspect of a cryptid's definition is that it should be of unexpected form. However, as I have revealed time and again in my various books documenting new and rediscovered animals, some very notable, unexpected cryptids were also very small. This is exemplified by Kitti's hog-nosed bat Craseonycteris thonglongyai, scientifically described in 1974 but already known to the local Thai people, and so dramatically different from all other bats that it required the creation of an entirely new taxonomic family to accommodate it – yet it is no bigger in size than a bumblebee. Consequently, although this journal is primarily interested with 'classic' cryptids, i.e. those of large or relatively large size, whose apparent continuing existence undiscovered by science is therefore particularly surprising, papers dealing with interesting, unusual, or potentially significant cryptids of smaller size will also be considered for publication.
Please note: unidentified animal-like (zooform) entities of an apparently paranormal nature, e.g. spectral Black Dogs, fall outside the scope of subjects with which this journal is concerned.
It is always exciting to be part of a major new development, and I believe that the Journal of Cryptozoology marks a major new development in the advancement and mainstream awareness of cryptozoology. I hope that you will too.
Consequently, I now wish to take this opportunity to make a formal call for papers for publication in the journal's inaugural volume, scheduled for publication later this year. Below are guidelines concerning requirements for the submission and presentation of manuscripts of papers to the Journal of Cryptozoology that must be adhered to by contributors.
All submissions must be original manuscripts not previously published elsewhere or submitted elsewhere simultaneously with submission to this journal. All submissions will be sent to two members of the journal's peer review panel for their opinions concerning content, clarity, and relevance to cryptozoology. Their comments will then be studied by the editor whose decision is final concerning whether or not the manuscript is published, subject if necessary to amendments by the author(s) suggested by the reviewers. The copyright of all published papers belongs to this journal.
All manuscripts submitted should be one of the following three types of paper:
Discussion/review article: Its subject should be a discussion or literature review of a given cryptozoological subject, and should not include original, unpublished research. It can be of 1000-3000 words in length, and can also include clearly labelled and numbered b/w photographs, artwork, tables, or maps, provided that the copyright of these falls into one of the following three categories:
(1) owned by the author(s);
(2) has been granted to them in writing by their copyright owner(s) - a copy of such permission will need to be submitted with the manuscript and artwork;
(3) expired, i.e. in the public domain.
The article should be preceded by a 200-word abstract, and should be divided into relevant subtitled sections. A reference list can be included at the end of the article; if so, this and the accompanying in-text citation style should correspond with the preferred version outlined below.
Research article: Its subject should be original research (but not fieldwork) conducted by the author(s). It should be of comparable length to or shorter than discussion/review articles, but with a minimum count of 1000 words. It can also include clearly labelled and numbered b/w photographs, artwork, tables, or maps, provided that the copyright of these falls into one of the three above-listed categories. The article should be preceded by a 100-word abstract, and its main text should be split into four sections – Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion. A reference list can be included at the end of the article; if so, this and the accompanying in-text citation style should correspond with the preferred version outlined below.
Field report: Its subject should be fieldwork conducted by the author(s). It should be of 1000-2000 words in length. It can also include clearly labelled and numbered b/w photographs, artwork, tables, or maps, provided that the copyright of these falls into one of the three above-listed categories. The article should be preceded by a 100-word abstract, and its main text should be split into four sections – Introduction, Description (in which the fieldwork undertaken is described), Results, Discussion (which should also include details of any future plans). A reference list can be included at the end of the article; if so, this and the accompanying in-text citation style should correspond with the preferred version outlined below.
Style of reference citation required:
All in-text citations should be: author(s) surnames, comma, year of publication, all in parentheses. If the cited reference has more than two co-authors, give only the first surname followed by et al. Examples: (Jones, 1987), or (Jones & Jones, 1987), or (Jones et al., 1987).
For books, the style required for the reference list should be: Author surname followed by given names with first (or legal) given name in full and others as initials, followed by the year of publication in parentheses, and a full stop/period. The title of the book should be italicised, with its principal words beginning with a capital letter, and should end with a full stop/period. The publisher's name should then be given, with the town or city of publication included in parentheses. If the book is co-authored by two authors, their names should be separated by an ampersand; if co-authored by more than two, all but the last name should be separated by commas, and the last name should be separated by an ampersand. Here are some hypothetical examples:
Smith, John C. (1987). The History of Cryptozoology. Jones & Son (London).
Smith, John C. & Jones, James A. (1987). The History of Cryptozoology. Jones & Son (London).
Smith, John C., Taylor, Paul B., & Jones, James A. (1987). The History of Cryptozoology. Jones & Son (London).
For journal articles, the style required for the reference list should be: Author surname followed by given names with first (or legal) given name in full and others as initials, followed by the year of publication in parentheses, and a full stop/period. The title of the article should not be italicised, and should not be capitalised (other than the first word). The title of the journal should be given in full, not abbreviated, with its principal words beginning with a capital letter, it should be italicised, and should end with a comma. Volume numbers should be given as figures, issue numbers also as figures (preceded by no.) but included in parentheses following the volume number (together with date of issue if relevant, and separated from issue number by a semi-colon), followed by a colon, and then the page numbers, given in full. If the article is in a newspaper, the town or city of publication in parentheses should follow the newspaper's title, and instead of volume numbers, the full date of publication will suffice, followed by the page number(s) if known. Here are some hypothetical examples:
Smith, John C. (1987). Investigation of an unidentified lizard carcase discovered in Senegal. Journal of Lizard Studies, 33 (no. 2; September): 52-59.
Smith, John C. (1987). Mystery cat on the loose in Wales. Daily Exclusive (London), 4 February: 23.
For online sources, if an author name is given, it should be presented in the same style as for books and articles, followed by the title of the source, which should adhere to the style format given above for a hard-copy journal article, followed by the complete URL, date of posting if given, and the date upon which it was accessed by the paper's author(s). Here is an example:
Shuker, Karl P.N. (2012). Quest for the kondlo – Zululand's forgotten mystery bird. http://www.karlshuker.blogspot.com/2012/02/quest-for-kondlo-zululands-forgotten.html 21 February. Accessed 24 February 2012.
If no author is given, simply begin the reference with - , then give the article title, etc as above.
I look forward to receiving your submissions.
Dr Karl P.N. Shuker, the Editor, the Journal of Cryptozoology, February 2012.
To that end an impressive peer review panel has been assembled, currently numbering ten members in total (although this may increase in the future), consisting of some of the world's most eminent zoologists and associated researchers in their respective fields. And I am honoured to have been invited by the journal's originator and publisher, CFZ Press, to become editor - an invitation that I am delighted to accept.
It is planned that each volume of the Journal of Cryptozoology should contain at least four papers. These can be discussion or review articles concerning a given cryptozoological subject, research-related papers, or field reports. Details concerning the required presentation formats for these contributions can be found on the journal's inside back cover and are also included below.
Down through the decades, cryptozoology has been defined in different ways by different researchers, with some definitions much more restrictive than others. Consequently, it is important to make clear the definition – and therefore the scope of subjects available for papers – to which this journal adheres. For the purposes of relevance to this journal, a cryptid is a creature that is known to the local people sharing its domain (ethnoknown) but unrecognised by scientists. Such a creature may be any of the following:
1) A species or subspecies allegedly unknown to science, including alleged prehistoric survivors (e.g. mokele-mbembe).
2) A species or subspecies presently unknown to science in the living state, but which is known to have existed in historical times and allegedly still persists today (e.g. thylacine).
3) A species or subspecies known to science but allegedly existing as a natural occurrence in a location outside its scientifically-recognised current geographical distribution (e.g. puma in the eastern USA).
4) A species or subspecies known to science but allegedly existing as an artificial occurrence (i.e. due to human intervention) in a location outside its scientifically-recognised geographical distribution (e.g. alien big cats in Britain).
5) An unrecognised non-taxonomic variant of a known species or subspecies (e.g. Fujian blue tiger).
In addition, papers dealing with fabulous, mythological beasts will be considered for publication in the journal if their subjects have direct relevance to cryptids (e.g. reviewing the similarity between a given lake monster from folklore and cryptids reported in that same lake in modern times).
Some cryptozoological researchers prefer to impose a lower size limit for cryptids, arguing that a crucial aspect of a cryptid's definition is that it should be of unexpected form. However, as I have revealed time and again in my various books documenting new and rediscovered animals, some very notable, unexpected cryptids were also very small. This is exemplified by Kitti's hog-nosed bat Craseonycteris thonglongyai, scientifically described in 1974 but already known to the local Thai people, and so dramatically different from all other bats that it required the creation of an entirely new taxonomic family to accommodate it – yet it is no bigger in size than a bumblebee. Consequently, although this journal is primarily interested with 'classic' cryptids, i.e. those of large or relatively large size, whose apparent continuing existence undiscovered by science is therefore particularly surprising, papers dealing with interesting, unusual, or potentially significant cryptids of smaller size will also be considered for publication.
Please note: unidentified animal-like (zooform) entities of an apparently paranormal nature, e.g. spectral Black Dogs, fall outside the scope of subjects with which this journal is concerned.
It is always exciting to be part of a major new development, and I believe that the Journal of Cryptozoology marks a major new development in the advancement and mainstream awareness of cryptozoology. I hope that you will too.
Consequently, I now wish to take this opportunity to make a formal call for papers for publication in the journal's inaugural volume, scheduled for publication later this year. Below are guidelines concerning requirements for the submission and presentation of manuscripts of papers to the Journal of Cryptozoology that must be adhered to by contributors.
All submissions must be original manuscripts not previously published elsewhere or submitted elsewhere simultaneously with submission to this journal. All submissions will be sent to two members of the journal's peer review panel for their opinions concerning content, clarity, and relevance to cryptozoology. Their comments will then be studied by the editor whose decision is final concerning whether or not the manuscript is published, subject if necessary to amendments by the author(s) suggested by the reviewers. The copyright of all published papers belongs to this journal.
All manuscripts submitted should be one of the following three types of paper:
Discussion/review article: Its subject should be a discussion or literature review of a given cryptozoological subject, and should not include original, unpublished research. It can be of 1000-3000 words in length, and can also include clearly labelled and numbered b/w photographs, artwork, tables, or maps, provided that the copyright of these falls into one of the following three categories:
(1) owned by the author(s);
(2) has been granted to them in writing by their copyright owner(s) - a copy of such permission will need to be submitted with the manuscript and artwork;
(3) expired, i.e. in the public domain.
The article should be preceded by a 200-word abstract, and should be divided into relevant subtitled sections. A reference list can be included at the end of the article; if so, this and the accompanying in-text citation style should correspond with the preferred version outlined below.
Research article: Its subject should be original research (but not fieldwork) conducted by the author(s). It should be of comparable length to or shorter than discussion/review articles, but with a minimum count of 1000 words. It can also include clearly labelled and numbered b/w photographs, artwork, tables, or maps, provided that the copyright of these falls into one of the three above-listed categories. The article should be preceded by a 100-word abstract, and its main text should be split into four sections – Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion. A reference list can be included at the end of the article; if so, this and the accompanying in-text citation style should correspond with the preferred version outlined below.
Field report: Its subject should be fieldwork conducted by the author(s). It should be of 1000-2000 words in length. It can also include clearly labelled and numbered b/w photographs, artwork, tables, or maps, provided that the copyright of these falls into one of the three above-listed categories. The article should be preceded by a 100-word abstract, and its main text should be split into four sections – Introduction, Description (in which the fieldwork undertaken is described), Results, Discussion (which should also include details of any future plans). A reference list can be included at the end of the article; if so, this and the accompanying in-text citation style should correspond with the preferred version outlined below.
Style of reference citation required:
All in-text citations should be: author(s) surnames, comma, year of publication, all in parentheses. If the cited reference has more than two co-authors, give only the first surname followed by et al. Examples: (Jones, 1987), or (Jones & Jones, 1987), or (Jones et al., 1987).
For books, the style required for the reference list should be: Author surname followed by given names with first (or legal) given name in full and others as initials, followed by the year of publication in parentheses, and a full stop/period. The title of the book should be italicised, with its principal words beginning with a capital letter, and should end with a full stop/period. The publisher's name should then be given, with the town or city of publication included in parentheses. If the book is co-authored by two authors, their names should be separated by an ampersand; if co-authored by more than two, all but the last name should be separated by commas, and the last name should be separated by an ampersand. Here are some hypothetical examples:
Smith, John C. (1987). The History of Cryptozoology. Jones & Son (London).
Smith, John C. & Jones, James A. (1987). The History of Cryptozoology. Jones & Son (London).
Smith, John C., Taylor, Paul B., & Jones, James A. (1987). The History of Cryptozoology. Jones & Son (London).
For journal articles, the style required for the reference list should be: Author surname followed by given names with first (or legal) given name in full and others as initials, followed by the year of publication in parentheses, and a full stop/period. The title of the article should not be italicised, and should not be capitalised (other than the first word). The title of the journal should be given in full, not abbreviated, with its principal words beginning with a capital letter, it should be italicised, and should end with a comma. Volume numbers should be given as figures, issue numbers also as figures (preceded by no.) but included in parentheses following the volume number (together with date of issue if relevant, and separated from issue number by a semi-colon), followed by a colon, and then the page numbers, given in full. If the article is in a newspaper, the town or city of publication in parentheses should follow the newspaper's title, and instead of volume numbers, the full date of publication will suffice, followed by the page number(s) if known. Here are some hypothetical examples:
Smith, John C. (1987). Investigation of an unidentified lizard carcase discovered in Senegal. Journal of Lizard Studies, 33 (no. 2; September): 52-59.
Smith, John C. (1987). Mystery cat on the loose in Wales. Daily Exclusive (London), 4 February: 23.
For online sources, if an author name is given, it should be presented in the same style as for books and articles, followed by the title of the source, which should adhere to the style format given above for a hard-copy journal article, followed by the complete URL, date of posting if given, and the date upon which it was accessed by the paper's author(s). Here is an example:
Shuker, Karl P.N. (2012). Quest for the kondlo – Zululand's forgotten mystery bird. http://www.karlshuker.blogspot.com/2012/02/quest-for-kondlo-zululands-forgotten.html 21 February. Accessed 24 February 2012.
If no author is given, simply begin the reference with - , then give the article title, etc as above.
I look forward to receiving your submissions.
Dr Karl P.N. Shuker, the Editor, the Journal of Cryptozoology, February 2012.
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