Author guidelines and abstract template for MMM3

This RTF file has been formatted using the style-sheet required for your abstract. Save this file to another name, delete the content and start writing your abstract. If you have difficulty using the styles in this template, just follow the formatting instructions below (and the format in the following ‘sample abstract’).

You may submit abstracts for two types of presentation:
Oral presentation (approx. 20 minutes including question time).
Poster presentation (91 cm wide and 125 cm long, to be displayed at the conference on boards)
You may submit multiple contributions but max. 1 as first author for each of the presentation types
Depending on the number of submissions and on the available time slots the Organising Committee may decide to convert oral presentations into research highlight presentations or poster presentations.  Research highlight presentations are pitching oral presentations of max. 3 minutes aiming at presenting research results in a to-the-point stimulating way (no questions time foreseen during this particular session).

Important notes to all authors
The Title should be brief but specific to the subject of your abstract.
Abstracts must aim at max. 300 words and should be an accurate summary of your presentation (see sample abstract below)
Authors’ names and addresses should be shown below the Abstract title, as specified under Author’s names and Author’s addresses below.
Include up to 5 keywords that describe your presentation

File size and file name
Feel free to delete the conference logo in order to reduce the file size.  Name your completed document as follows:  MMM3underscorelastnameunderscorepresentationtype.rtf. Keep signs in the family name but do not use spaces; in case of a composed name with a space write as one word but capitalise each part (e.g., MMM3_Koedam_poster.rtf, MMM3_Dahdouh-Guebas_oral.rtf, MMM3_Wang’ondu_oral.rtf, MMM3_NfotabongAtheull_poster.rtf) 

Text
Use Times New Roman for all text including headings. Left align all text, images and tables.
Use the Normal style for all text (style-normal) where possible in preference to "Body text" styles. Normal text should be 12 point with single line spacing.
Do not indent the first line of a paragraph. Leave one blank line between paragraphs.
First authors’ email may be hyperlinked.
Genus species names should be italicised.

Headings and sections
Paper title: (style-Title) - 14 point, bold, sentence case (capitals for proper nouns only). If the title extends to a second line, do not use “enter” to break the line. Leave one blank line below the title.
Authors' names: (style-author) - 12 point. First name should come before the family name for each author. Highlight the presenting author in bold. Use superscripts to indicate different addresses. Use shift+enter to break lines between addresses. Leave one blank line below the authors’ names.
Authors' address: (style-address) - 10 point, not italics. The corresponding web site and email may be included at the end of each address. Leave two blank lines after the authors’ addresses.
Abstract heading: (style-abstract head) - 12 point, bold.
Abstract body: (style-abstract) - 12 point, not bold. Leave one blank line below the abstract text
Keywords heading: (style-keywords head) 12 point, bold.
Keywords: (style-keywords) 12 point, not bold. Five key words not used in the Title or Abstract. Leave one blank line below the key words.

Page Layout
Margins should be set at 2 cm all round

A note on styles and templates 
A style is a set of formatting instructions that can be applied to text. The style used for the title of this document is ‘Title’. It applies the font Times New Roman, 14 point, bold. The Title style can be found in the ‘Normal’ drop-down-window on the left of the Formatting menu bar (MS Word 1997-2003) or in the ‘Styles’ section of the ‘Home’ menu (MS Word 2007). All styles are stored with this document and can be saved as a template. Check the formatting of your paper using View>Outline. 

Sample abstract: Instructions for preparing the abstract for MMM3

F. Dahdouh-Guebas1,2, N. Koedam2, L.P. Jayatissa3 & J.O. Bosire4

1 Laboratory of Complexity and Dynamics of Tropical Systems, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Av. F.D. Roosevelt 50, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium.  E-mail : fdahdouh@ulb.ac.be
2 Laboratory of Plant Biology and Nature Management, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium  3 Department of Botany, University of Ruhuna, Matara, Sri Lanka
4 Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, PO Box 81651, Mombasa, Kenya

Abstract

This document describes the format instructions for abstracts for the MMM3 conference. It has been formatted using the style-sheet required for your abstract. Save this file in the name of the first author as instructed above, delete content and start writing your abstract. Briefly and succinctly state the background and objectives of the work conducted, and provide a summary of the methodology and the major findings in the abstract. The abstract should finish with a couple of statements on the conclusions and implications of the study results. Kindly limit the main body of your abstract to no more than 300 words. 

Keywords
Abstract, web, caption, summary, fonts