Colorado Plateau Research Station

The Ninth Biennial Conference of Research on the Colorado Plateau

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Instructions to Authors

Proceedings manuscripts must be submitted to Charles van Riper, by 15 December 2008, at the address listed below.

The USGS coordinates the publication of a conference proceedings based on selected papers from each of the Colorado Plateau biennial conferences. Charles van Riper and Mark Sogge will serve as the proceedings editors for the 9th Biennial Conference, and the proceedings will be published through the University of Arizona Press. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Following are abbreviated instructions for manuscript preparation.

Authors should submit their manuscripts in standard professional journal format, preferably in Microsoft Word on CD, together with 3 hard copies of their manuscript. Hard copies should be double-spaced and use one font size throughout (Times new Roman 12 pt.). If any other formats are envisioned please check with Charles van Riper III or Mark Sogge (addresses below). The Chicago Style Manual is the standard used by the Colorado Plateau Research Station Publications Division; Webster's Unabridged Dictionary is the standard spelling reference.

Page and Line numbering

All papers should have pages numbered consecutively beginning after the title page. Numbers should be placed in the lower right corner of each page. On your first-submission draft, all pages need to be formatted to include line numbers down the left-hand margin. This is an automated feature in most major word processors and is now required for many journals. We are implementing this new design to make it easier for reviewers to provide you with comments and their suggested revisions.

Format

1. Title Page. This should contain: (1) the paper title which should be descriptive, clear and brief; it should identify the subject matter and normally the location where the research occurred, and (2) the investigators, their affiliation, mailing addresses, and email addresses.
2. Abstract. A brief summary of the paper’s conclusions, and should be no more than 5% of total paper length. It should include the salient facts discussed in the paper and conclusions reached in relation to research objectives. The abstract is the author’s opportunity to state, in a condensed style, the contributions of the paper. It should be brief, clearly written and cover the subject completely enough to stand alone, and it should tell the reader what the project was about and results of the research. Scientific names of organisms and/or statistical test probabilities should not be included in the abstract.
3. Introduction. Your introduction should include the following elements: (1) the problem/s being investigated; (2) objectives of the research; (3) the general plan of treatment; and (4) a literature review and summary of previous work which relates to the paper’s research topic. Start your Introduction on a separate page from the Abstract.
4. Methods. A brief, but complete description of the methods used in the study. Please number mathematical formulae sequentially to the right of the formula as they occur in the paper.
5. Results. The observations and data acquired during the investigation, including appropriate tables, figures and statistical analyses. Standard deviations and/or standard errors should accompany means when the latter are presented either in the text or a table. Regression lines should be accompanied by at least the R-squared statistic. Other statistical material (for example analysis of variance) should be presented in a manner consistent with that used in various professional journals, for example: The Journal of Range Management, Conservation Biology, or Ecology.
6. Discussion. This section includes a discussion and summary of your research findings, along with any conclusions derived from this study. Special effort should be made to relate the discussion to the purpose(s) for which the study was undertaken. This is not the place to introduce new concepts into the paper that have not been covered in the results.
7. Literature Cited. A complete alphabetical list of all references used in the paper. A journal format such as that found in Ecology should be used with one exception: journal titles are written out completely, rather than abbreviated. Footnotes are not to be used for literature citations and should be kept to a minimum (preferably not used at all). Personal communications and unpublished literature should also be kept to a minimum and preferably not used at all.

   • Here are some citation format examples:

     • Clary, W.P. and D.A. Jameson. 1981. Herbage production following tree and shrub removal in the pinyon-juniper type of Arizona. Journal of Range Management 34:109-113.
     • Evans, R.A. 1988. Management of pinyon-juniper woodlands. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service General Technical Report INT-249. 34 p. Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Ogden, Utah.
     • Hironaka, M. 1989. Primary successional theories. p. 29-31 In Ferguson, D.E., P. Morgan and F.D. Johnson (Eds). Proceedings--Land classifications based on vegetation: applications for resource management, Moscow, ID; November 17-19, 1987. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service General Technical Report INT-257. 315 p. Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Ogden, Utah.
     • McIntosh, R.P. 1980. The relationship between succession and the recovery process in Ecosystems. p. 11-62 In Cairns, J. Jr. (ed.). The recovery process in damaged ecosystems. Ann Arbor Science Publishers, Inc., Ann Arbor Michigan.
     • Shimwell, D.W. 1971. The description and classification of vegetation. University of Washington Press, Seattle, Washington.
8. Acknowledgments. Optional. When thanking people, just use abbreviations for initials and full last name (e.g., We thank O. R. Gorten and J. P. Snodgrass for…).
9. Appendices. These are not recommended but will be admitted on a case-by-case basis. Appendices provide supplementary supporting material not contained in the main body of the manuscript because of their bulk or peripheral nature. Remember that the font size will be much smaller for Appendix materials, so plan accordingly. Appendices should be number consecutively with ROMAN Numerals (e.g., I, II, III).
10. Illustrations. Material presented in figures should not be duplicated in tables and vice-versa. The author should keep the number of tables and figures down to the minimum needed to clarify the research results. Electronic-files of photographs must be at least 300 dpi and no more than 600 dpi at the final size (max 5 inches). Photos must be scanned as TIFFs.  JPEGs are not acceptable.  Images on the Internet are usually never more than 72 dpi; they are unacceptable.
    • a. Figures. Figures include graphs, maps, photographs, drawings, etc., and should be numbered consecutively and presented at the end of the text. Figures should be numbered lightly on the back in pencil. Drafts may be submitted with rough figures as long as they are clear and legible. However, the final draft should be submitted with figures that are camera ready (Original drawings, 8 X 10 or 5 X 7 glossy high contrast B&W photos, laser printer and pen-plotter formats are acceptable.
    • Do not place a figure caption on the individual figures. Rather, provide a ‘Figure List’ page that includes each figure title - listed consecutively - with captions. Captions should be formatted as “Figure 1. Locations of herpetofauna sampling sites…”, . The caption text (Figure explanation) should be able to stand alone – do not assume that the reader can interpret information from the paper text to the figure. For example, if your study spanned 1999-2001, be sure to include that information in the Figure Caption of the study area.
    • b. Tables. Use a standard journal format (for example Ecology), with captions left justified above the table. Tables should be treated like figures in that they are placed on separate pages at the end of the text. As with Figures, the Table caption should be able to stand alone – do not assume that the reader can remember information from the paper text, when reading the Table caption (legend). Oversized (i.e. 11 X 17) tables cannot be handled, and especially those that are orientated side-ways. Large tables should be photographically reduced (some laser printers will do this nicely) or should be separated into several, consecutive pages.

We anticipate that this book will be printed by the University of Arizona Press. If your paper is accepted, you will be provided their instructions for final figures and tables.

Any questions about paper format should be directed to:

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