SEAFWA Guide to Authors
(March 2003)
(Technical Papers)

Manuscript Submission

1. Initial submission: Submit three paper copies to the appropriate associate editor. Manuscript must not exceed 20 typewritten pages including literature cited, tables, and figures. Papers in the technical sessions will be peer-reviewed and evaluated for scientific merit and their advancement of wildlife and fisheries science.
2. Final submission: Submit three paper copies of the final revised manuscript and original artwork along with one compact disk read-write-able (CD-RW) or diskette with appropriate files for text, tables, and figures. On the outside of the disk identify the word processing program used, title of article, authors, and the names of files included. It is essential that the disk and hard copy agree. Submission of disks will expedite the publication process and will minimize errors.

Manuscript Preparation: Assemble manuscripts in this order: title page, abstract, introduction, study site, methods, results, discussion, acknowledgments, literature cited, tables, figure captions, and figures.

Manuscript Format: The following format conventions apply to the Proceedings:

1. Double-space all material.
2. Print the manuscript on one side of the paper. Use conventional typing paper (8.5 x 11 inches) with 1-inch margins on all sides. Number all pages, including the title page, sequentially.
3. Use Times New Roman font or one which is similar and a 12-point type size for text.
4. Use left justification and turn off hyphenation.
5. Use the two-letter postal code for state abbreviations in complete addresses only; in all other cases, spell out the names of states.
6. Do not use more than three levels of headings. The style for headings is as follows:

MAIN HEADING

Second Level of Heading

            Third Level of Heading. -- Sentence follows heading on same line.

7. Keep footnotes to a minimum. Place footnotes at the bottom of the page of the original reference. Footnote disclaimers of product endorsement.
8. Underline to indicate italics. Underline key words, third-level headings, scientific names, and mathematical symbols that should appear italicized in print.
9. Spell out numbers less than 10 unless they are used with units of measure or compared with a large number (three fish, 5 mm, 2 catfish and 20 largemouth bass). Use numerals for numbers which are less than one or which have two or more digits (0.8 cm, 22 poles). Use commas in numbers of five digits or higher (25,000) and use 0 before decimals (0.05). Age organisms in Arabic, not Roman, numbers (fish age 2, not II). Insert one space on both sides of symbols when used as conjunctions (e.g., N = 50) but not when used as adjectives (e.g., <50 individuals).
10. Use a 24-hour clock for time (1500 hours, not 3:00 p.m.); spell out "hours" when used with time, otherwise abbreviate (see Table 1). Calendar dates are as follows: 22 January 2003.
11. Use metric units of measure. For compound denominators use negative exponents and spaces (e.g., 3.4 m^-3 h^-1, 9 mg L^-1, 0.28 mg L^-1 h^-1).
12. Specify the national currency the first time it is used (e.g., US$195, Can$200).

Title Page: The name of the correspondence author, the author's full address, phone number, and e-mail address should appear in the upper left hand corner of the title page. Skip a line and then provide a short running title consisting of 40 to 50 letters, one space, a period, another single space, and then the author name(s), underlined, in one of the following three styles: Jones, Jones and Smith, or Jones et al. The title, written to accurately reflect the content of the paper, follows on the next line of text. Next, list each author, beginning with the primary author, and provide the following information about each: name of organization and complete address of organization including zip code. Each author should be listed separately even if they work at the same organization. Information about authors who have had a change of address since the time of the study should be footnoted at the bottom of the title page.

Abstract: The abstract immediately follows the list of authors (no need to start on a new page). It should be a single paragraph and concisely summarize the paper. The abstract should not merely list the contents of the paper nor should it contain a review of the methods. The abstract should contain no literature citations or footnotes. It should include the italicized heading "Abstract:" at the beginning of the section, placed flush with the left margin.

After the abstract paragraph, place four or five key words flush left with the left margin using the following format:

Key words: manuscript, style, editing, Proceedings.

After the key words, place flush with the right margin the following reference caption:

Proc. Annu. Conf. Southeast. Assoc. Fish and Wildl. Agencies : -

Immediately following the reference caption, a single line should be typed across the page to separate it and previous material from the body of the manuscript.

Introduction: The introduction should establish the importance and purpose of the work. Included in the introduction is a demonstration of the author's awareness of the most pertinent literature, including review articles.

Study Site: If the technical paper needs a detailed site description, provide it in this separate section of the manuscript before the methods. If only a few sentences are needed to locate and describe the study site, include them as a subsection of the methods section. Do not include a figure of the study site unless it is essential to the study design.

Methods: Methods need to explain the experimental design in enough detail for the reader to evaluate the data or repeat the study. It is better to be overly explicit than to omit details needed by the reader. Be sure to include the date when the study occurred. Previously published descriptions of equipment and procedures may be cited by reference unless they are in theses, dissertations, agency reports, or sources with limited availability. Statistical analysis should be explained here in detail. State the significance level used (e.g., P < 0.05). Complex experimental protocols can be presented in a table or figure.

Results: This section should be separated from the discussion section. When results are presented in tables or figures, summary statements and analyses are sufficient. Display data in tables if precision is needed and in figures if describing trends. Long lists of raw data are not needed. Basic data should be analyzed so the reader can verify the analysis or use the information for other purposes. A P < 0.05 is preferred but not required as a significance level.

Discussion: The discussion section should enhance the value of a paper. The discussion needs to relate what has been learned from the study to what was known before. This may include creating new syntheses, searching for generalities, or establishing new principles. Management recommendations or implications may be included here as a subsection or, if they are substantial, may follow the discussion section as a separate section. The discussion section should not simply restate the results with a brief literature survey. Strong discussions will not involve unfounded speculation, redundancy, or wordiness. Literature by other authors should be cited carefully and accurately.

Acknowledgments: Acknowledge only people and institutions that contributed directly to the study or reviewed the manuscript. Note here grant numbers and other financial contributions.

Literature Cited: Do not use citations that are progress reports, unpublished papers, abstracts from conferences, or manuscripts under review or preparation. Do not cite the internet when hard copy publications of the same information are available. In the rare case when an internet citation is necessary, the date of publication used should be the date the site was accessed. Dissertations, theses, final reports and government documents should be used rarely since they have limited outside reviews and limited-to-no circulation. If unpublished data (unpub. data) or personal communication (pers. commun.) must be cited, place this citation in parentheses giving initials, surname, and affiliation only of the person providing the information (e.g., A. Z. Smith, Institute for Fisheries Research, pers. commun.).

Literature cited in the manuscript can take either of two forms, depending on the context. Note the following examples:

Smith (1990), Clark and Jones (1992), Davis et al. (1998), and Wood (in press) found largemouth bass in White Reservoir.

Largemouth bass were found in White Reservoir (Smith 1990, Clark and Jones 1992, Davis et al. 1998, Wood in press).

Within the manuscript, cite both of two authors; for three or more authors, provide the name of the first author and "et al." (e.g., Warren et al.). Arrange multiple citations chronologically (oldest to most recent). Use "in press" for manuscripts accepted for publication.

The following rules apply for citations in the literature cited section (note that specific examples of citations are provided in numbers 9 - 15 below.):

1. Do not abbreviate in the citations.
2. Capitalize only the first word and proper nouns in the titles of journal or book articles.
3. Substitute the words "in press" for the date of publication if a paper has been accepted for publication but is not yet in published form.
4. List publications in alphabetical order according to the last name of the first author or by the first word of corporate authors.
5. When two authors have the same last name, list by alphabetical order according to the initials of the first author.
6. When the first author of more than one citation is the same, list by alphabetical order according to the last names of coauthors. On the second and subsequent listing of publications by the same author(s), each name should be replaced by a line of about five characters.
7. List multiple references by the same author(s) chronologically by year of publication.
8. Differentiate papers by the same author(s) in the same year by lowercase letters after the year (McDonald 1983a, 1983b).
9. Citations with seven or more authors may be listed as "et al."
10. Articles in journals and other periodicals should contain all of the following information when available: author(s), year of publication, title, serial, volume, issue, and inclusive pages.

Weirich, C.R. and J.R. Tomasso. 1991. Confinement- and transport-
	induced stress on red drum juveniles: effect of salinity. The Progressive Fish-Culturist 53:146-149.

_____, _____, and T.I.J. Smith. 1992. Toxicity of ammonia and nitrite to
	sunshine bass in selected environments. Journal of Aquatic Animal Health 5:64-72.

11. Book citations should contain all of the following information when available: author(s), year of publication, title, edition (if other than first), volume (if part of a series), publisher, city, state, province, and country (if other than the United States). Omit number of pages. "SAS" is one exception to the rule of spelling out information in the literature cited section.
     

    SAS. 1985. SAS user's guide: statistics, version 5 edition. SAS Institute,
    	Inc. Cary, North Carolina.
    Tiersch, T.R. and P.M. Mazik, editors. 2000. Cryopreservation in Aquatic
    	Species. World Aquaculture Society, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

12. A citation taken from an article in a book (including special publications, symposia, and monographs) should contain all of the following information when available: author(s), year of publication, title, inclusive pages, editor(s), book title, publisher, series name, city, state, province, and country (if other than the United States). Include any other important identifying data. When available, identify conference proceedings by year of publication, not by year of the meeting. Give publisher's name and location (e.g., where the proceedings may be obtained, not the location of the meeting.)
     

    Ritchie, M. E. 1997. Population dynamics in landscape context: sources,
    	sinks, and metapopulations. Pages 160-184 in J. A. Bissonette, editor. Wildlife and landscape ecology - effects of pattern and scale. Springer, New York, New York.

13. A citation of a dissertation or thesis should include all of the following information when available: author, year, title, whether doctoral dissertation or master's thesis, university, city, state, province, and country (if other than the United States). There is no need to repeat the name of the state if it is already provided within the name of the university.
     

    Hartman, K.J. 1993. Striped bass, bluefish and weakfish in the
    	Chesapeake Bay: energetics, trophic linkages, and bioenergetics model applications. Doctoral dissertation. University of Maryland, College Park.

14. A citation of a government publication should include all of the following information when available: author(s) or agency, year of publication, title, agency, type and number of publication, city, state, province, or country (if other than the United States).
     

    U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). 1987. Water resources data for
    	Massachusetts and Rhode Island, water year 1985. USGS Water-Data Report MA-RI-85-1, Washington, D.C.

15. A citation of a contract report should include all of the following information when available: author(s), year of publication, title, organization that issued the report, organization that received the report, receiver's city, state, province, and country (if other than the United States).
     

    Smith, A.G. 1986. Turbine-induced fish mortality at Highrise Dam, 1985.
    	Report of Robertson Consultants to Prairie Utilities, Jonesville, Alberta, Canada.

16. A citation of an internet page should include all of the following information when available: author(s) or agency, year the page was accessed, title of the page, publisher of the page, and a complete URL for the specific page accessed.
     

    National Wildlife Federation (NWF). 2003. National Wildlife Federation
    	and Junior Master Gardeners bring the wonders of gardening for wildlife to America's youth. NWF.  http://www.nwf.org/schoolyardhabitats/wildlifegardener.cfm

Tables: Tables need to be organized to express the most information in the least amount of space. Do not reduce type size for tables; continue on another page if needed. In the column and row headings, capitalize only the first word, proper nouns and appropriate symbols. Use only three horizontal lines across the table: one at the top, one following the column headings, and one at the bottom of the table. Shorter horizontal lines occasionally may be used to further subdivide column headings. Vertical lines are never used. Identify nonstandard symbols and abbreviations in the table caption or footnotes. Always use lowercase alphabetic superscripts for footnotes. List footnotes below the table.

Figure captions: List all figure captions sequentially on one page. These captions should stand alone and identify all legend symbols on the figures.

Figures: Submit originals of figures. We cannot accept photocopies of figures but we will accept photographs on glossy paper with good contrast. Submitted figures must be clear, high-quality, and black and white. On photographs, place symbols and scale bars so they are at least 4 mm inside the outer edge of the photograph. On the back of each submitted figure, provide the following information written in pencil: figure number, author name(s), and running head title. Figures may be also be additionally submitted on disk as a .pdf or .jpg file.

On figures, labels should describe the x- and y-axis. Place the y-axis label sideways to read from bottom to top. Figures will need to be reduced to fit in the proceedings; therefore, use type >18 point. Keep graphics simple and uncluttered. When figures are reduced, symbols and shading can look alike, and dashed and dotted lines can appear continuous. Choose symbols and lines that keep their clarity and contrast when reduced. Use three-dimensional charts and shading sparingly. Keep blank spaces to a minimum by placing labels of graphs near axes, legends, etc., as close within the figure as possible.

Table 1. Abbreviations and symbols commonly used in text, tables, and figures in the
Annual Proceedings of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.