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On behalf of the guest editors, we would like to invite submissions for a special issue to be published in African Invertebrates in remembrance of our colleague, Prof. Stefan Hendrik Foord. At the time of his passing, he was the NRF-SARChI Chair in Biodiversity Value and Change at the University of Venda in South Africa, and was the sitting Chairperson of the African Arachnological Society (AFRAS). He was a prolific ecologist and did a lot of pioneering work on the biodiversity and ecology of spiders in South Africa, particularly. During his career, he published more than 100 journal articles, one book chapter, and two books. He was instrumental in the preparation of the First Atlas of South African Spiders, the Red List of South African Spiders, and the recently published national spider checklist. He also made a significant contribution to the systematics of Afrotropical spiders, revising the Hersiliidae as his Ph.D. study, and described or co-authored the description of 29 spider species during his career. In honouring and celebrating the contributions of Stefan to African biology, a Gedenkschrift will be published in the journal African Invertebrates in December 2024.

Priority will be given to manuscripts in the following fields:

– Taxonomy of African arthropods,

– Ecology of African arthropods,

– Biogeography of African arthropods and

– Other manuscripts within the journal scope celebrating Stefan’s legacy.

To pitch a contribution to this Gedenkschrift, either contact the Editor-in-Chief (John Midgley, johnmidge@gmail.com) or the collection editor (Galina Azarkina, urmakuz@gmail.com). There is no limit to the length of submitted manuscripts.

The deadline for submission is 30 September 2024. No late submissions will be accepted.

Contributing authors are required to follow the general formatting guidelines for African Invertebrates (https://africaninvertebrates.pensoft.net/about#AuthorGuidelines). Contributing authors who are not native English speakers are requested to send their contributions to an English-speaking colleague or language-editing service to improve the linguistic quality of their submissions.

Page charges for contributions depend on the length of the final article, along with discounts based on the number of submissions.

(https://africaninvertebrates.pensoft.net/about#ArticleProcessingCharges)

Sponsorship

Sponsorship is available for a limited number of articles, focusing on both spiders (Sponsored by the KwaZulu-Natal Museum) and insects (sponsored by the Entomological Society of Southern Africa). Students and researchers from developing countries will be prioritized for sponsorship. The Editor-in-Chief and Collection editor will make all sponsorship decisions. These decisions are final. If you believe you qualify for sponsorship, please mention this when pitching your article.

General

We look forward to your contributions to this special issue, which was organized to honour our late colleague and friend, Stefan Foord. Please note that submitting a manuscript to the Gedenkschrift does not automatically mean it will be included – ALL submissions will be subjected to critique by at least two suitably qualified reviewers, and poor quality manuscripts rejected by the Guest Editors or reviewers will not be further considered for this issue.

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Invertebrates play a crucial role in all ecosystems, providing services like pollination, waste removal and recycling, and are often key indicators of ecosystem health. Papers covering biogeography, biology, ecology and conservation of invertebrates involved in ecosystem interactions and services will be considered. Original articles and short communications will be accepted as well as any reviews that are appropriate.  The scope of the articles must be in line with the journal and as such should focus on Afrotropical invertebrates. We welcome papers on invertebrates involved in any of these interactions but papers on pests and pest control are beyond the scope of the journal and will not be accepted. 

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