| Purpose As a scientific organization, publication of research results in the scientific literature is a major focus of our activities. Agency policy is designed to serve the scientist and protect the scientist and the SEFSC from any problems of science or policy. The SEFSC's goal is to insure the rapid dissemination of high level science to our constituents and the procedures are instituted for that purpose. Scientists are encouraged to prepare papers for peer review journals and our agency has the leading peer review journal for fisheries - the Fishery Bulletin. NMFS also has two other peer review publications - Marine Fisheries Review for topical articles geared more for industry and the general public and Technical Report series. This latter journal is for technical articles that have unusually long tabular material or illustrations or are more monographic in nature. In addition to the above we publish a non-peer reviewed series - Technical Memoranda. |
 |
| Publication procedures are straightforward and simple being designed to help the author achieve publication and
dissemination of their manuscripts as quickly as possible. It is the author's responsibility to insure that the manuscript meets scientific criteria for their discipline, is grammatically correct, and meets the intended journal?s publication requirements. For the agency, NOAA Fisheries, it is important that all disseminated information meets current policy standards thus all manuscripts must be approved by the author's supervisor (in most cases the Laboratory/Division Director) and the Center Director. Approval Process To insure that this approval process is met, a manuscript must be accompanied by NOAA Form 25-700 that requires the approval of the Laboratory/Division Director and the Center Director. A copy of this form is attached as a Adobe file.
All manuscripts, no matter what outlet they are designated for, must have the completed Form NOAA 25-700 in the author's possession prior to submission to an in-house or outhouse publishing source. The process within each laboratory or division is that Director's prerogative, but once laboratory or division approval is made, then the manuscript (3 copies) and NOAA Form 25-700 must be sent to the Center Director's designee Dr. W. J. Richards, NOAA Fisheries, 75 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami, FL 33149 for final approval. Most papers are dealt with by Richards, but in some cases, usually for those involving NOAA Fisheries policy or special technical aspects, the manuscript may require the CD's approval and signature. In every case, Richards tries for a turn around of 5 working days or less from receipt to return. Return Fedex forms should be provided otherwise manuscripts will be returned by snail mail NOAA Fisheries Publications:
NOAA Fisheries publishes 3 journals from its Scientific Publications Office (SPO) in Seattle. They are the prestigious Fishery Bulletin, Special Scientific Reports soon to replaced by NOAA Professional Papers, and Marine Fisheries Review. All science centers also publish various titles, but the Southeast Fisheries Science Center publishes only one Technical Memoranda. All manuscripts destined for the SPO must have the original signed NOAA Form 25-700 accompanying the manuscript. Consult those journals instructions for specific requirements as you would an outside journal.
Technical Memoranda(TM)
| TMs are non-peer review publications that are designed to disseminate information quickly. Though not subject to the same level of peer review as a paper that is destined for the Fishery Bulletin, TMs are expected to represent scientifically correct, accurate data, and appropriate analysis. The TM serial number is provided upon final approval. Their format must follow the guidelines described below so as to reflect uniformity. Each TM has an outside cover page, an inside cover page, and a disclaimer page. The contents of the TM are the author's choice. Examples of these three pages are shown for reference and may serve as a template. TM outside title page: authors are encouraged to include topical illustrations on the outside cover. Color of the cover is the author's option as well. Remember that dark colors require white or light print whereas light colors require black or dark color print. Prior to final approval all information must be placed on the cover except the TM number that is provided upon approval. On the example shown please note that the TM number appears flush right in the upper right corner in caps and lower case; the USDOC logo appears in the upper left corner; the title and author are centered and in caps; an illustration appears below the author's name; and below the illustration the address is centered followed by the month and year of publication. The address in this example is for the Miami Lab, but should reflect the laboratory of the senior author or if not an SEFSC authored paper it should be the funding laboratory's address. Note that USDOC is in caps all below this is in caps and lower case. Font should not be boldface, but font size should be no smaller than 12 point. TM inside title page: follows the example shown. Note that the TM number title, title, and author are identical to the outside cover. The NOAA logo appears in the upper left corner in lieu of the USDOC logo. Below the author's name and address the hierarchy of the organization is displayed. At times of administration change, the names of the 3 officials listed (US DOC Secretary, NOAA Administrator, and NMFS Director) must be verified. Below the date is a short descriptor of the TM series. The font size remains 12 point as with the cover; caps and lower case as shown in the example. Note- this page is technically paged number i, but the i is not displayed. TM disclaimer page:all the information on the example must be provided, but the page also allows for the inclusion of short abstracts or executive summaries. In addition addresses for authors and their affiliations may be added in cases where there are too many authors to include on the inside cover page. Font size for most information should be no smaller than 12 point, but for addresses, abstract information it may reduced to 9 point. This page must be numbered ii in the center at the bottom and must be printed on the back side of the inside cover page, thus appearing on the left hand side. Pages following this page may be numbered with lower case letters for example Table of Contents, executive summaries, but the first page of the document must be numbered with Arabic numeral 1 and appear on the right hand page. Left hand pages have even numbers. TM Distribution: All TMs must be distributed as follows: one copy to the National Technical Information Center, 5825 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161, 2 copies to NOAA HQ Library, and one copy each to all NOAA Fisheries Laboratories to the attention of the Library. In addition, an electronic copy of the TM must be sent to the SEFSC Webmaster for placement on the SEFSC web page. Further distribution is the choice of the author. All publication and dissemination costs are the author's responsibility. Remember that cost savings can be made, as NTIS will distribute your publication via purchase from the requestor. Also note that printing must be done by the Government Printing Office(GPO) unless few copies are made on local copying machines. Printing by other than GPO is not allowed for any publication including contract reports. Manuscripts destined for non-NMFS publications (outside publications). Manuscripts are the author's responsibility and the completed NOAA
Form 25-700 should be maintained by the author for their own protection. Most outside journals do not require any approval form, but other NOAA entities may require this approval form.
|
|
