The purpose of the SEPM Publication Format is to provide a consistent organization for Society publications that will help writers present their arguments clearly and concisely. Manuscripts that require more than occasional and minor editorial modifications to bring them into conformity with this Format will be returned to the author(s) who must make the changes needed to bring those manuscripts into the proper form. Publication is delayed by the time required for authors to alter nonconforming manuscripts.

The Format applies to the following series published by SEPM. It may be used as a guide for authors of papers submitted to Palaios and the Journal of Sedimentary Research, although policies established by the editors of the respective journals take precedence.

Special Publications [SP]

Concepts in Sedimentology and Paleontology [CSP]

Computer Contributions [CC]

Reprint Volumes

Short Course Notes [SC Notes]

Core Workshop Notes [CW Notes]

The manuscript or volume should be organized as follows [underlined items apply only to book-length manuscripts].

The copyright page [on the reverse side of Title Page] and ISBN information will be added by SEPM Headquarters.

Titles should be brief and interesting. The title page must include the names, affiliations, and addresses of all of the authors. Specific arrangement and style of the title page for camera-ready volumes are discussed in a later section of this Format.

A Table of Contents is required for all nonjournal publications except the Computer Contribution series.

A Foreword usually is a statement by an eminent person other than the author of the manuscript or of the volume. If included, it normally occupies no more than two to four pages. The name of the author should be placed at the conclusion of the Foreword, and it may appear on the Title Page as well. If used, the Foreword should follow the Table of Contents and precede the Preface.

The Preface normally discusses reasons for undertaking the work that is the subject of the volume. It may include a photograph honoring a person for whom the book is dedicated, if that is appropriate.

The Abstract should be short, informative, and emphasize conclusions. Meaningless statements such as "...methods are discussed..." or "...results are summarized..." should be avoided.

The Text should be lively, yet scholarly. Write the manuscript in the active voice except where emphasis requires use of the passive voice. Examples are:

Active: Geikie traced the early development of the geologic sciences.

Passive: The early development of the geologic sciences was traced by Geikie.

Express completed observations and events in the past tense and conclusions in the present tense. Sentences containing "there are..." and "it is..." should be avoided. Review the finished manuscript for other unnecessary verbiage and excessively long sentences as well as for agreement of subject and predicate. Technical vocabulary and abbreviations must not be so specialized that they inhibit the exchange of ideas within or between disciplines.

Within the text if you are listing items, there are two ways to do it. If the list is contained within the paragraph, then use parentheses around the number or letter (i.e., (A), (1), (a) or (i)). If the list is set apart from a paragraph, then:

1. Text.... or

A. Text....

First-order headings are centered and capitalized throughout; second-order headings are centered and written in italics [underline in manuscripts if italic font is not available] with the first letters of the lead word and of all subsequent principal words capitalized; third-order headings are indented on the left side and in italics with only the initial letter of the first word capitalized. Third-order headings are followed by a period and em-dash [.—]. Text begins on the line directly below a third-order heading. If fourth-order headings are needed, they should be flush left, italicized, and followed on the same line by .— and the text. Examples are:

FIRST-ORDER HEADINGS

Third-order headings.—

Fourth-order headings.—Text begins.....

An Acknowledgments section generally is provided in a manuscript, but it is not obligatory. If this section is not included in a manuscript, the Editor of Special Publications will assume that the author does not intend to submit one.

References create more problems and cause more queries directed to authors from editors than any other part of a manuscript. Please read and follow these instructions carefully.

Article:

Smith, A. T., 1952, Conodonts from the Eureka Quartzit (Ordovician), central Nevada: New species: Palaios, v. 10, p. 182-188.

Book:

Smith, B. T., 1958, Dinosaurs (3rd ed.): New York, Wiley, 752 p.

Article in Book:

Smith, C. T., 1963, Evolution, in Jones, J. and Lee, M. N., eds., Planktic Foraminifera: Amsterdam, Elsevier, p. 615-629.

Serial Publication:

Smith, D. T., 1967, Development of porosity, in Advances in Sedimentology, v. 5: Chicago, University of Chicago Press, p. 243-278.

Arbenz, J. K., 1989, The Ouachita system, in Balley, A. W. and Palmer, A. R., eds., The Geology of North America— An overview: Boulder, Geological Society of America, The Geology of North America, v. A, p. 371-396.

6. Write out the source of the reference in full. Do not abbreviate any part of it.

10. All entries must be double-spaced when submitted for editing.

Tables must be headed with a brief main title (TABLE 1.—IN CAPS, CENTERED AT TOP) and be mentioned in the text. Titles must not include explanatory material or literature citations. These are to be included in the text of the manuscript or placed beneath the tables as footnotes.

If tables are drafted for photo-reproduction, care should be exercised to use letters and numerals that will accommodate reduction to publication size (single, double, or triple column, depending upon the publication). Legends are not included in the copy for drafted tables (see Attachment 1).

SEPM aims for figures of exceptionally high quality. Figures should be used in place of words wherever possible but must be essential to the purpose of the manuscript. Photographs should be cropped of unnecessary details and include appropriate scales.

Figures must correspond to the dimensional format of the publication for which the manuscript is being prepared and must be submitted mounted with rubber cement or wax on 8 1/2 in. x 11 in. sheets. Scotch tape is an unsatisfactory mounting medium because the tape often does not hold during handling. Composite photographs (two or more in a single figure) should be mounted with no space(s) between them. The printer will demarcate the individual figures with tape in preparing the reproduction for printing. All parts of multi-part figures should have identifying CAPITAL LETTERS in the upper left corner, with each part mentioned in the caption. Figures should be glossy, good-contrast photographs. Line drawings may be submitted as PMTs or high-quality laser prints on glossy paper, if possible. All figures should be submitted at their publication size. Submission at publication size not only facilitates handling of illustrations for the editors, but it also provides the authors an opportunity to insure that their illustrations are satisfactory for publication prior to submission of the manuscript. Each figure should be identified on the back by the author's name and the figure number. Clearly indicate the top of each figure by an arrow on the back.

Figures that are poorly designed, contain excessive white space, smudges, or lettering and lines that will not allow for reduction will be returned to the author to be redrafted.

Measurements of column widths in typeset publications are:

SEPM will publish foldout, pocketed, or colored material only if the author is able to pay the extra publication cost that is generated by such material. Color is the only option available in the journals, and the author must pay the extra printing cost before the article is sent to press. Unless such costs can be subsidized, illustrations should be designed to fit one page or a fraction of one page and be a black-and-white halftone, line drawing or photograph. Authors must supply the Editor of Special Publications [or appropriate journal editor] and the Executive Director of SEPM with a signed statement from themselves or from their professional affiliation confirming that funds have been COMMITTED to defray costs of special illustrations.

Figures are numbered in the order in which they are cited in the text. Figures must be introduced parenthetically at the end of a sentence in the text (Fig. 3) or as Figure 3 if discussed in the sentence. Figure captions are CAPITALIZED and abbreviated and followed by .—

A subject index is required for volumes in the Special Publications and Contributions in Sedimentology and Paleontology series and is the responsibility of the volume/journal editor. Authors contributing to these publications are requested to submit key words or phrases with page numbers for compilation of the index by the editors. Although the index will be reviewed by the Editor of Special Publications at the time of receipt of the copy for a book, the text for the Subject Index is compiled by the editors of that volume at the page-proof stage. Page numbers are added to the index when the typeset text is returned with the revised page proofs.

The volume editor(s) should begin by compiling a "manuscript index" using the key words or phrases submitted by the authors and other additional significant words or phrases selected by the editor(s) from each manuscript. Enter these alphabetically on index cards or into a computer with notations showing the manuscript and heading under which they appear. Because it is likely that the same key word will appear in more than one manuscript in a volume, several notations probably will be listed for each word. To create the final Subject Index, the editor(s) must match the manuscript section for each page listed in the "manuscript index" with the same section of each manuscript as it appears in the revised page proofs and substitute the final page number into the index. [It is essential to have a copy of each original manuscript when going through this process. The editor should retain a copy of all materials sent to the Editor of Special Publications.]

NOTE: If revisions are made in the revised page proof, the position of items listed in the Subject Index may be shifted and the index must be adjusted accordingly.

If you have questions on capitalizing stratigraphic nomenclature, geographic locations, or other items, consult "Suggestion to Authors of the Reports of the U. S. Geological Survey," by E. E. Bishop, E. B. Eckel, et al., 1978, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. or the "Glossary of Geology" edited by M. Gray, R. McAfee, Jr., and C. L. Wolf, American Geological Institute, Washington, D. C.

9. End-of-line hyphens must be avoided in manuscripts.

10. Use Arabic rather than Roman numerals.

Keep the mechanics of preparation simple. Use black-and-white photographs whenever possible. Do not use tip-ins or foldouts or large plates in Special Publications unless absolutely necessary. As stated previously, these materials require special treatment for publication and must have the added cost subsidized by the author.

Eliminate footnotes. They distract the reader and are costly to typeset. They should be used only when no other mechanism exists for presenting the material to be covered.

Manuscripts to be typeset are to be typed ragged right with suspended hyphenation. Double-space all parts including References, Tables, Figure Captions, etc. Leave a 1-in. (2.5-cm) margin around all sides of the page.

Send three unbound copies to the volume/journal editors, each with a complete set of figures.

For single author volumes, the Title and Copyright pages are not numbered. Number all subsequent pages at bottom center.

The Title Page must consist of a suggested running head [shortened title], full title, authors' names and affiliations, and key words or phrases with page numbers [to be used by the volume editors to compile an index]. Running heads must be 80 characters or less in length and presented as follows: Running head: Middle Ordovician Brachiopods. Full titles should be brief and interesting.

A simple line drawing suitable for the Cover and Title Page must accompany manuscripts for SP, CSP and CC volumes (provided by the editors or the single author of a volume). The cover illustration should be appropriate to the general subject of the volume. These diagrams must be simple without closely spaced lines or textures which will not reproduce in the embossing of the illustration on the cover.

All material on the Title Page must be double-spaced.

Photo-reproducible tables are encouraged because they reduce typesetting costs greatly.

Avoid vertical and diagonal lines in tables that are to be typeset. Type each table on a separate sheet or sheets [8-1/2 in. x 11 in.]. Do not type or draft Table, Figure or Plate captions in the body of the manuscript or on the Table, Figure or Plate. Captions will be typeset by the printer and are to be submitted on separate sheets of paper and included in the manuscript after the References. Number pages with the Table, Figure and Plate captions sequentially with the rest of the manuscript.

All tables other than camera-ready copy are to be typed double-spaced and submitted as non-reduced copy.

Figure captions will be typeset below the figures. Figure captions can be placed on a page facing a figure that requires an entire page, but this arrangement is inconvenient for the reader and detracts from the general appearance of a publication. Figure captions should be typed on a sheet of paper separate from the text and be placed at the end of the manuscript following the captions for the tables.

Authors of papers to appear in nonjournal publications should submit two clean copies of the reviewed and revised manuscript with original figures and illustrations to the volume editors. Authors of papers to appear in journals should submit two clean copies of the reviewed and revised manuscript with original figures and illustrations to the journal editor. These will be checked a second time by the editor(s) before the copy is transmitted to the SP Editor or to the printer. The Editor of Special Publications will not begin processing any part of a volume until he/she has received all of it.

Proofreading marks [Attachment 2] assist authors and volume editors in understanding copy-edited changes and suggested corrections to a manuscript. They also are used by the editors when transposing author-proofed changes from the page proof to the master proof copy of a book.

When authors and editors read proof, they must indicate all suggested corrections or changes according to the following color code:

SEPM will not incorporate changes into page proofs that call attention to literature that appeared during the editorial process. A manuscript will be considered finished when it is accepted for publication. Authors are reminded that their manuscript will have been edited by the journal or SP Editor prior to being sent to the printer. Thus, not all deviations from the original manuscript are printer's errors. Changes in proof are expensive and will be disallowed by editors unless an editorial or printer's error has been made. However small the change may appear, in many instances resetting of an entire line is required, commonly the remainder of a paragraph, and sometimes whole columns of print. Accordingly, all changes that are not due to an error by the typesetter [and indicated on the proof in blue] will be charged to the author. If an author has a strong reason for reversing an editor's revision, the author must justify the change with the journal or SP Editor to avoid being charged for it.

The original, edited copy of the manuscript must be returned together with the corrected proof. If it is not received, all changes to the proof requested by the author will be considered author's alterations, and the author will be charged for them.

Authors will receive page proofs and are expected to read them carefully, indicate changes on them using the standard proofreading marks entered according to the color code outlined above, and return them promptly [within 3 to 5 days]. If authors know in advance that they will be unavailable to read proofs promptly, they must designate someone to do it for them. Delay in the return of the proofs delays the publication of the entire journal/book in which the manuscript is slated to appear. Volume and journal editors will transpose the changes requested by the authors from the page proofs to a master copy of the proof and return that copy to the printer.

Reprint volumes combine both typeset and camera-ready material. Written permission to reprint must be obtained from all authors and from the publishers of all non-SEPM publications from which material is to be incorporated into a Reprint Volume. Clean copies of all papers to appear in a Reprint Volume must be supplied. In some cases, the SEPM Business Office may be able to provide back issues of SEPM publications. Articles from journals not published by SEPM must be obtained by the compiler.

If personal copies of publications are submitted for reprinting, owners of those copies should be advised that the articles will be cut out of the publication by the printer. The loose pages will be returned, but they will not be rebound into the journal or book. Reprints of articles can be used as long as they do not have overprint notations that change them from the original published version. Articles containing foldout or color illustrations will not be considered for a Reprint Volume.

Pages will be numbered serially, and running heads will be typeset and stripped into the top of the pages of the articles to be reprinted. Articles may appear in any order deemed appropriate by the compiler. Every effort should be made to fill all of the pages. Each article should begin on the next available page after the preceding paper without leaving a blank page between them if that is possible. However, compilers should be aware that articles with tables or illustrations that require publication on facing pages must be reprinted in the way in which they originally appeared, i.e., if the first page was an odd-numbered page in the original publication, it must be an odd-numbered page in the Reprint Volume. In some instances, this requires the insertion of a blank page between articles in order to have the pages arranged correctly. Situations where this is dictated should be indicated clearly when the copy is submitted to the editor. The Title Page, Copyright Page, Table of Contents and Preface, as well as any chapter introductions in the Reprint Volume will be typeset. Copy for these portions should be submitted in accordance with the format described in Section I herein.

The responsibility of the author and/or volume editor is increased in author-prepared, camera-ready publishing. A high level of commitment will be required. Careful proofreading and attention to the format outlined below will reduce the need for the Special Publications Editor to make revisions that delay publication.

Camera-ready manuscripts are in an 8-1/2-in. x 11-in. format unless otherwise approved by Council. A Table of Contents is required except in the case of the computer diskette series in which the contents may appear on the diskette rather than as printed material.

Manuscripts must be submitted initially to the Editor in double-spaced column-width format [6-1/2 in. (16 cm) for single column; 3-1/2 in. (8.8 cm) for double column]. Submitting the manuscript in column-width format allows the author and editor to check for hyphenation and word breaks that otherwise would not be seen, thus reducing revisions later in the editing process. Figures and their captions are attached in the proper sequence at the end of the manuscript for initial submission. The author thus can defer layout until the preparation of the final double-spaced version after the manuscript has been accepted and approved for publication.

The Editors of the volume and/or Special Publications Editor will assure that reviews of the manuscript are obtained from several competent specialists whose evaluations will be communicated to the author(s). The author(s) are required to respond to all reviews; the author(s) need not concur in the opinions of the reviewers but must respond to them in some way.

The Editor of Special Publications will conduct a final edit on receipt of the revised manuscript and then return it to the author(s) for final typing. The edited version of the revised manuscript as well as the final, clean, single-spaced copy must be returned to the editor for final check of editorial revisions. The Editor will forward the clean copy to the printer and return the marked copy to the author(s).

The best quality of reproduction will be obtained from typed original material. The manuscript should be typed single spaced in double columns, each 3-1/2 in. [8.8 cm] wide, or in a single column 6-1/2 in. [16 cm] wide. A template for the preparation of camera-ready pages is attached (Attachment 3). The manuscript should be typed on one side only of 8-1/2 in. x 11 in. white bond. If your word processing equipment permits, use a gloss-coated paper designed for laser printing to obtain a hard, crisp type which reproduces sharply.

Times is the preferred type style for Special Publications. Other type characters with serifs are thought by many authorities to be easier to read than those without serifs, but any clear serif or sans-serif type may be used. For the body of the text, the font sized normally used is 10 or 11. For the abstract, figure captions, and the bibliography, the preferred font size is 8 or 9.

The book will be perfect bound and thus will not open flat. Figures, figure captions and text cannot be wider than 7-1/8 in. [17.7 cm] or they will fall too deeply into the gutter. The text should be typed to leave margins of at least 1 in. [2.5 cm] at top and bottom. Running heads will be displayed 3/4 in. [1.9 cm] from the top edge of the paper and 1/4 in. [0.635 cm] from the text. The template [Attachment 3] should be followed as an example.

Titles should appear in CAPITAL LETTERS, centered, single spaced, and font size= 18. Editors' or Authors' names appear centered and font size= 14 beneath the title (names are in normal text), followed by SEPM, and the series; as shown in attachment 8. Leave enough room between the title and author's names for the cover art.

Titles should appear in CAPITAL LETTERS, centered, single spaced, and font size= 18. Editors' or Authors' names appear centered beneath the title with enough room between the title for the cover art. The author's names and affiliations are in italics using font size= 12. See attachment 9 for the setup of this page.

Titles should appear in CAPITAL, BOLD LETTERS, centered, font size= 10. Authors' names and affiliations appear serially and centered beneath the title with 2 single spaced carriage returns between the title and authors; names are in CAPITAL LETTERS (font=10/11), and affiliations are italicized (font= 8/9):

JOHN H. SMITH, CAROL R. JONES, AND MARY F. BROWN

If authors share an address, they can be identified by superscript numbers as follows:

The abstract should be single column (6 1/2 in. wide), single spaced, centered, and both left and right justified.

Indent the first word of a new paragraph three spaces (approximately 1/4 in..). Leave two spaces between the end of one sentence and the beginning of the next sentence. A blank line may be left between paragraphs if the manuscript contains very few illustrations so that text appears less dense on the page. However, most manuscripts are illustrated sufficiently well that this is not necessary.

The volume editor(s) will assign final page numbers after determining the order in which the papers will appear in the volume. If you are the sole author of a volume or the volume editor, place the page numbers at the bottom of the page, centered and 3/4-in. up from the bottom. All right-hand pages must have odd numbers, all left-hand pages have even numbers.

Be sure to allow for blank pages when paginating. A page number should not be typed on a blank page, but the next numbered page should allow for any untyped numbers. The first page of a section is to appear on a right-hand page and must be an odd-numbered page. A blank left-hand page may be inserted at the end of the previous section.

If a two-page figure is included or if a figure and its caption are on pages that must face each other, the left-hand page must be an even-numbered page. Again, it may be necessary to plan for a blank page following the text and preceding the figure.

Running heads should be typed at the top of each page for a professional appearance and to assist the reader. The base of running head should be placed 3/4 in. [1.9 cm] from the top edge of the page and 1/4 in. [0.635 cm] from the text and centered on the page.

A blueline proof will be sent to the senior author or volume editor approximately one to three weeks after the manuscript is submitted to the printer. Because each page was previously proofed and furnished in camera-ready form, no typographical errors are possible. This proof is reviewed only to assure that pages and page elements are positioned properly and are in the correct sequence. If a major error has been made, a corrected replacement page can be submitted for substitution into the manuscript at this point. Remember, however, that any changes made at this stage in the publication process will be billed to the author(s). No corrections can be made once the blueline has been returned to the printer.

Attachment 1a

THE EFFECTS OF PHOTOREDUCTION ON FIGURES

When preparing figures for manuscripts being submitted to SEPM for publication, the author should allow for the effects of photoreduction. All figures must be printed on either single-column or double-column width. Measurements of column widths in publications are:

Figures need to be photoreduced to fit these widths. Lettering and line sizes chosen for the figures should allow for reduction.

DOUBLE-COLUMN WIDTH FIGURES

A figure measuring 7-1/2 by 10 inches would require a reduction to 94% of its original size to fit a 7-inch column in an SEPM publication.

Attachment 1b

SINGLE COLUMN WIDTH FIGURES

A figure measuring 7-1/2 by 10 inches would require a reduction to 47% of its original size to fit a 3-1/2 inch column in a SP or JSR; to 45% to fit a 3-3/8 inch single column in PALAIOS.

Attachment 3a (reduced to fit on page)

Attachment 3b (reduced to fit on page)

Attachment 4

Attachment 5a

Attachment 5b

Attachment 6

Attachment 7

Attachment 8

Attachment 8

Attachment 9