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"Theory in Biosciences"

Inhalt
I.    Aims & Scope
II.   Instructions to Authors
III.  Editorial


I. Aims & Scope

Theory in Biosciences

Theorie in den Biowissenschaften


Formerly: Biologisches Zentralblatt
Edited by:
Olaf Breidbach,
Jena

Michael Weingarten,
Marburg

Aims & Scope


"Theory in Bioscience" focuses on new concept in theoretical biology. It is likewise interested in analytical or modelling approaches and in biophilosophy or history of ideas. Central topics are systems theory, systems dynamics, theoretical ecology, evolution, cognition, theoretical neurobiology, visual computation, simulation strategies, and bioethics. Manuscripts should present original work with a strong conceptual background. A critical discussion of the chosen approach is expected. The paper should be written in a lucid style, either in German or in English; mathematical formalisms should be reduced to a minimum. Furmulae have to be explained in the text. Crucial terms must be defined in a glossary.


Die Zeitschrift "Theorie in den Biowissenschaften" veröffentlicht konzeptionell ausgerichteten Originalarbeiten zur Theoretischen Biologie. Angenommen werden sowohl analytische, modelltheoretische als auch eng an der derzeitigen Forschungssituation angerichtete biophilosophische und ideengeschichtliche Beiträge. Zentrale Themen sind: Systemtheorie, dynamische Systeme, theoretische Ökologie, Evolutionsbiologie, Kognition, theoretische Neurobiologie, Visualisierungs- und Simulationsstrategien sowie Bioethik. Voraussetzungen für die Veröffentlichung eines Manuskripts sind: Originalität und konzeptionelle Orientierung der Arbeit, kritische Diskussion des eigenen Ansatzes, Verständlichkeit der Sprache (Deutsch und Englisch) und des mathematischen Apparates. Strittige Begriffe sind in einem Glossar zu definieren; Formeln sind im Text zu explizieren. Rein technische Arbeiten werden nicht angenommen.

 
 

II. Instructions to Authors

Manuscripts should the submitted in final form in triplicate to one of the editors:

Olaf Breidbach
Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
Institut für Geschichte der Medizin, Naturwissenschaft und Technik; Ernst-Haeckel-Haus,
Berggasse 7,
07745 Jena,
e-mail: b6brol@pluto.rz.uni-jena.de
 

Michael Weingarten
Phillipps-Universität Marburg
Institut für Philosophie
Blitzweg 16, 35039 Marburg
 

1. The manuscript must be typed with full double spacing, wide margin on left, and font size not smaller than 4 characters per cm throughout (including the reference list and figures legends). The desired position of figures should be marked in the left-hand margin, in addition, if possible, Disk with text either written in Word, Word Perfect or Tex should be submitted. Only manuscripts written in English or German are accepted. Authors not accustomed to using English or German regularly are request to have their manuscripts checked by an experienced writer before submitting. Genus and species names should be underlined or printed in italics.

2. The first page (title page) should contain the complete title of the paper the full name(s) of the author(s), the name of the department where the study was carried out, the address to which proofs and other correspondence are to be sent, including fax and telephone numbers.

3. The second page contains the summary in English. It presents briefly the major results and conclusions and should not exceed 250 words. Five "key words" which are not contained in the title should be given. Also it should contain a list of abbreviations, if necessary.

4. The text should start with an introduction briefly stating the objectives of the study and enough background information to clarify why the study was undertaken. - The Materials and Methods should be brief but adequate. References should be made to published procedures wherever possible, explaining only pertinent modifications. - Results and Discussion should be treated separately.

5. The List of the References must contain all cited papers in alphabetical order. They should be cited as follows: Surnames and initials of all authors, year of publication in parentheses, full title, journal title abbreviated in accordance with the World List of Scientific Periodicals, volume number, first and last page numbers. References to books or monographs should include, in addition to the authors' names, the year of publication, the title, edition, publisher and place. More than one reference to the same first author should be in chronological order; more than one reference to the same first author in the same year should be distinguished by a, b, c etc. behind the year.

Examples:

Journal articles:
Toulouse, G.; Dehaene, S.; Changeux, J.-P. (1986) Spin Glass Model of learning by selection. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA 1983: 1695 - 1698.

Capter in book:
Delbrücke, M.; (1971) Aristotle-totle-totle. In: Monod, J.; Borek, J. (eds) Microbes and Life. New York. Columbia Univ. Press, pp 50 - 55

Book:
Smith J. M. (1992) Evolutionsgenetik, G. Thieme, Stuttgart, New York.

The text references should be made as follows. "... as Miller (1992 b) observed" or "... is observed (White and Black 1988,1991 a, b; Miller 1992 b)". If a citation concerns more than two authors, e. g., Miller, Smith and Brown, the paper should be referred to in the as Miller et al.

6. Figures, line drawings, must be submitted on separate sheets and numbered consecutively in the order in which they are mentioned in the text. They should be kept to the minimum required. Line drawings should be submitted as glossy photographic prints, high quality photostats or laserprints. Scales as well as letters, arrows or numbers should be added carefully. The final size of letters or numbers must not be smaller than 2 mm. Legends of figures should be listed consecutively on a separate sheet. Each legend includes a title and explanatory text. The latter should give sufficient detail to make the figure intelligible without reference to the text and should explain all labels used in the figure.

7. Abbreviations and units: Abbreviations must be kept to a minimum and listed on the first page. Abbreviations pertaining only to a specialized subject and jargon will not be accepted. All quantities should be defined according the International System of Units (SI-units) and according to the conventions of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).

8. Proofs. Page proofs for the correction of printers' errors will usally be received about 8 weeks after acceptance of an article. Submitted manuscripts must be regarded as final texts. No changes apart from corrections of printer's errors can be made at proof stage.

9. Thirty reprints are supplied free of charge. Additional reprints may be purchased by ordering when page proofs are returned.

10. Policy on animal treatment. All animal experimentation reported in the journal must have been conducted in accordance with the pertinent national statements regarding the care and use of animals in the country of residence of the principal author. In submitting a paper each author will be assumed to have conscientionsly abided by these principles. Animal welfare is of paramount concern in reviewing the methods section of a submitted manuscript.
 



 
III. Editorial

Theory Bioscienc. (1997) 116: 1-2
Gustav Fischer Verlag

EDITORIAL

Biology describes the behaviour of certain Systems, ranging from the subcellular level to the level of ecosystems. The basic elements which constitute these systems might be described by chemistry and physics; their specifities, however, are found in the patterns of organization into which these elements are integrated. Biology can reconstruct and describe such specifities and, thus, analyse the patterns of organization of particular organisms. Biology, thus, can provide a list of structural or physiological patterns by which certain types of organisms have become established in evolution. By comparing certain aspects of such patterns, biology may detect principle patterns fundamental for the constitution of organisms. Thus, important details about biological systems will be detected, but the question as to what the more general implications of this research strategy are, remains.

Biology should not define itself by the modes of application in technology, medicine or environmental affairs. A biologist has to ask, on the contrary, whether specificities such as he has characterized for physiology, morphology, development biology and genetics, can be described on a more general level. He may ask whether on all this different levels of organization common general characteristics can be found. At a first glimpse, such an idea might look provoking or even without any proper sclentific base: What, for example, should somebody engaged in the description of arctic ecosystems discuss with a structural biologist working on the analysis of membrane bound proteins? There may, of course, be practical aspects of a cooperation, in regard to specific features of membrane constituents in arctic fishes, for example, but working on such an aspect would not include a general orientation about how to be a biologist. Why, however, have both people a right to regard themselves as forming part of one common scientific community? Do they really analyse different levels of the same object, and is it possible to describe how the varlous levels of analysis are integrated into one scientific discipline? Such a question is normally not asked in biological discussions. Yet are we right to avoid doing so, more or less blindly following the ways outlined by the old traditions of out disciplines?

We think it will be essential, in order to understand the specificities of biology, to analyse the theoretical background of the different experimental and descriptive approaches. We have, therefore, not only to describe the physiological and structural peculiarities of biological systems, but we have to analyse general characteristics of biological systems. To do this, one has to work out methods for system analysis, transfer theoretical methodology to particular experimental procedures and test theoretical presumptions in experimental biology. Likewise, one has to be interested in the methodological and terminological traditions and restrictions of one's discipline. One has to describe the dynamics of systems and to analyse the methods by which the characteristics of systems can be described.

"Theory in Bloscience" will allow to do this. lt will allow to describe, analyse and comment on such approaches. The journal will be mainly devoted to system analysis, system dynamics, theoretical ecology, evolution, cognition, and theoretical neuroscience. "Theory in Bioscience" will focus on new concepts in analytical and modelling approaches and on reflections based on a background in philosophy or history of ideas. In the selection of papers, "Theory on Bloscience" will favour a broad approach, both in methodology and the areas analysed. Commonly, such a broad approach is neglected. In our view, however, such an approach is necessary to uncover new concepts, to outline new research programmes and to substantially and constructively criticize etablier sclentific traditions.

Interdisciplinary approaches, which are essential for modern biology - from ecology to neuroscience - suffer from the neglect of the historical and philosophical Dimension within the various cooperating disciplines. There is a need to reflect on the methods and terminology used by the various subdisciplines in order to clarlfy the relations between the different levels of phenomena. Furthermore, not only a universally accepted philosophical framework to describe the ways and results of bioscience but even a common analytical language is lacking for biology in general and even for certain subdisciplines. This journal is designed to fill at least part of the gaps described. Our idea is to bring sclentists from various disciplines together and to establish a discourse that integrates the special points of view of the various disciplines. A constructive sclentific dialogue must be based on the discussion of new concepts which result from detalled analytical work. Thus, for our journal, only those papers are of interest that contribute to an actual discussion of a certain aspect of a discipline and are written in a language accessible for a non-specialist. In our opinion, only a paper which is clear for the non-specialist and that presents data relevant for the actual discussion in a subdiscipline is of interest for a broader audience.

Our editorial board, selected from specialists in various disciplines from mathematics to history of science, will ensure, that the papers being published do not only describe conceptual frameworks but contribute to actual scientific discussions. "Theory in Biosclences", to be published by the Gustav Fischer Verlag, jena, suggests a way of how to design theoretical biology, that in jena was already proposed nearly a century ago, where Ernst Haeckel devoted an Institute, located at bis former private home, to the theory and history of biosciences. This idea was further propagated by bis pupil Julius Schaxel at the same institution. Their arm was to work on the formation of a conceptual framework for modern biology being of immediate relevante for experimental research.

Olaf Breidbach
Michael Weingarten

Ernst-Haeckel-Haus, Jena, September 1996
 
 
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Last Update:  02.02.1999