Stephen K. Donovan – författare

An up-to-date compilation written by authorities in particular aspects of ichnology. Considers the biological evidence that can be derived from trace fossils including both marine and terrestrial paleoenvironments. Features ancient and modern examples running the gamut from late Precambrian through fish coprolites to dinosaur eggs.

The time has come. You are an Earth scientist. You’ve spent weeks, months, years working on this project – now is the time to pull it together for publication. You might be writing an undergraduate or graduate thesis, a research paper for a leading journal, a note for the newsletter of the local amateur scientific society, a book review or an abstract for a specialist geological conference. How do you make the transition from promising unpublished researcher to established academic author? Of course, the phrase ‘academic publishing’ covers a multitude of sins; monographs, research papers, book reviews, conference abstracts or whatever each requires a different approach. You have to decide what it is you are going to write and where to publish it. There are co-authors, supervisors of your degree, peer reviewers and editors to deal with on the way. But the only way to write like an academic is to write like an academic. . . where do you start? You could do much worse than start here.There are many books on how to write and be published aimed at research students and other aspiring academics. Many of these are readable, comprehensive and provide good advice. This book is composed of numerous short chapters on this subject, all directly relevant to one or more aspects of academic publishing and aimed particularly at the Earth scientists in the broadest sense. Geologists will be encouraged to use the book as much as a reference as a reader, ‘dipping in’ to the chapters that contain relevant tips, hints and comments to enable them to improve the paper that they are currently writing. The book is intended to be informative, readable and, above all, of practical application for all readers.  In summary, the volume will be a readable compilation investigating many facets of academic publishing relevant to the Earth sciences. It will be of particular interest to postgraduate students, postdocs and new academics

There are many books on palaeontology, aimed at amateurs, undergraduates and aspiring academics. Perhaps commonest amongst these are guides to fossil identification, from the general (basic texts on fossil variety and morphology) to the specific (field guides to specific groups, localities or horizons). Many of these are readable, comprehensive and provide good advice. This is not such a book - there is more to the subject than just putting a name on a specimen, however important that may be.As the book’s title states, this is a practical manual covering the many aspects of palaeontology. It is organised in fifty-three chapters; each chapter focusses on one aspect of palaeontology as viewed with a geologist’s trained eye. It can be read from cover-to-cover or dipped into when an answer to a specific question is needed. The aim is to help the developing palaeontologist move their skills on to the next level.It is aimed, primarily, at the beginner in the broadest sense, both amateur and undergraduate. Palaeontologists and geologists are encouraged to use the book as much as a reference as a reader, dipping in to the chapters that contain relevant tips, hints and comments to enable them to improve their understanding of their current interest. It is informative, readable and, most of all, of practical application for all palaeontologists.