About
The Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society (PYGS) has been published without a break since 1839. It is one of the leading journals of British geology.
Submit an article Become a reviewer
Scope
PYGS traditionally has given particular attention to the geology of northern England and its neighbouring areas. The submission of papers on related topics but of a more general interest is encouraged.
Article types
PYGS welcomes submissions of the following article types.
Research
Research articles are communications of original research. They report on primary and unpublished studies.- Up to 12 journal pages (straightforward word count – no figures: 1 page = 1000 words). Longer submissions will be considered if justified by the content.
- No restrictions on figures/tables.
- Supplementary material may accompany the article.
Review
Review articles are overviews of topics that have seen significant development or progress in recent years, with comprehensive depth and a balanced perspective.- Up to 12 journal pages (straightforward word count – no figures: 1 page = 1000 words). Longer submissions will be considered if justified by the content.
- No restrictions on figures/tables.
- Supplementary material may accompany the article.
Discussion
Discussions on papers that have already appeared in the Journal should be submitted within a year of the publication of the article discussed. Discussions should be succinct, written in an objective and scientific manner and should add something to the debate and not be just an additional observation.- Up to 1,000 words
- No restrictions on figures/tables
Obituary
Obituaries are welcome in PYGS. Please email the Journal Manager to arrange: [email protected]Thematic collections
Thematic collections are curated sets of papers that present a timely snapshot of research in a topic of high current interest and importance. Edited by experts in the field, invited contributions undergo peer review to the normal PYGS standards and are made available online upon acceptance. The papers are collated on a dedicated collection page on an ongoing basis which ensures that this significant research is visible to the community at the earliest opportunity.
Browse recent examples of thematic collections.
The subject of the collection must be of interest to a broad international audience and the science must be of the highest quality. All the papers must be acceptable to the Journal in their own right.
Thematic collections have 'guest editors' who work closely with one of the regular Journal Editors. The guest editors would be expected to write a short perspective to accompany the collection.
If you would like to submit a proposal for a thematic collection in PYGS, we request the following information:
- Names and contact details of the guest editors
- A list of papers, including title and all authors
- A brief explanation of its aims and how it will enhance the Journal
- Details of the meeting that generated the set (if appropriate)
- Your planned schedule for submission, refereeing and editing
Peer review
PYGS operates a single-blind peer review process, in which reviewers remain anonymous to the authors throughout the review process. Should the reviewer wish for their name to be known to the author, they have the option to do so.
A member of the editorial board will send your paper to at least two referees. They will handle the papers through the reviewing and scientific editing procedure and approve the finalised script for publication.
We expect the reviewing and editing procedure to take about three to five months in the case of a paper requiring little revision. We are of course dependent on the goodwill of unpaid reviewers to achieve these targets.
You can keep track of this process through the online submissions package.
If an article is not accepted for publication, we may offer the author the opportunity to transfer their submission to another GSL journal or Lithosphere.
Publishing policies
PYGS maintains the highest standards of publication and research ethics. All publishing policies can be found on our Publishing Policies page.
The Geological Society is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and applies the principles of publishing best-practice as detailed in COPE’s Core Practices.
Abstracting and indexing
We work with our authors to help make their work as easy to discover as possible. PYGS is currently included in the following abstracting and discovery services.
- CLOCKSS
- Crossref
- Current Contents
- Dimensions
- GeoArchive
- Geobase
- Geological Abstracts
- GeoRef
- Google Scholar
- Mineralogical Abstracts
- Petroleum Abstracts
- Scopus
Open access
Authors may choose to make their article fully open access (sometimes called ‘gold open access’) on payment of an Article Processing Charge.
- 2024 APC price: £2,200/$3080/€2640 (+VAT as applicable as the time of invoicing and subject to change).
- Corresponding authors at institutions that have signed a read and publish agreement with the Geological Society of London, qualify for waived APCs. The list of qualifying institutions can be found on our open access page.
More information on the Society’s policy can be found on the open access page . You can select open access when you submit your article online. You do not need to pay until after your article is accepted.
If you require open access but cannot pay the APC, the Geological Society also supports ‘green open access’, where you can post your final post-refereed version of the article to a website or repository 12 months after the online publication date. Authors must not post a typeset proof or final version to any website or repository unless the article is fully open access.
Transfers to Lithosphere
Lithosphere, an established open access journal originally published by the Geological Society of America (GSA), is now published by GeoScienceWorld (GSW) in alliance with a number of prestigious non-profit societies. The Geological Society of London is pleased to partner with GSW on this open access initiative.
If you submit your work to a GSL publication and the Editor feels it may be better suited to be considered for publication in our partner journal Lithosphere, the Editor may offer you an opportunity to transfer your submission. If you agree to the transfer then we will pass your submission along with associated metadata to GSW. The Lithosphere editorial team will then contact you.
Offer of a transfer does not guarantee acceptance in Lithosphere. All transfers will be assessed by Lithosphere’s Editorial Board, in line with the editorial policies of the journal.
Lithosphere considers papers that are:
- Scientifically rigorous and valid, with observations separated from interpretations, and conclusions supported by data
- A useful contribution, that tells us something new, and discussed in the context of existing literature
- Ethically sound, previously unpublished and meeting all applicable research integrity standards
- Reproducible with methods, analyses and statistics (as appropriate) detailed sufficiently to be followed
- Written in clear and concise English, so the study cannot be misunderstood
Lithosphere is a fully open access journal. More information about Lithosphere and the APC can be found on the GSW Lithosphere page.
For any questions about Lithosphere please email the editorial office via [email protected].
Contact
For all enquiries, please contact the PYGS Editorial Office at [email protected]