Instructions for Document Preparation

Alaska Region National Ocean Sciences Bowl

Manuscripts must be typed and double-spaced throughout. Manuscripts including all graphics and "References Cited" must be 20 pages or less. Text should be in 12-point font with 2.5 cm (1 inch) margins on top, bottom, and both sides. Two-sided copying is encouraged. Number all pages and identify authors (team leader et al.) at the top of each page. Six hard copies and one electronic copy must be received by the project coordinator no later than 1 December 2008. Mail to:

Dean Stockwell
Institute of Marine Science, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences
University of Alaska Fairbanks
PO Box 757220
Fairbanks, AK 99775-7220

Physical address:

234 Irving II Building,
University of Alaska Fairbanks,
Fairbanks, AK 99775-7220

Late manuscripts will be penalized.

The sequence of material in the manuscript should be as follows:

  1. Title page: Should include the title, authors' names, name of school and team, school's address, and e-mail address of coach or contact person.
  2. Abstract: Limited to one page, should be complete in itself.
  3. Manuscript: The organization of the material is up to each team. Each figure and table must be referred to in the text. Text references are by author, followed by the year of publication. For example: "Previous research showed the effect of advection on uptake is strongly size dependent (Munk and Riley, 1952)." "Batchelor (1979) proved that the fractional increase in transport due to advection is independent of the shape."

    Personal communications should be cited with the person's complete name, followed by pers. comm. For example: "Mike LaSota (pers. comm.) stated that black cod were found in deeper water during El Niño years."

    Information taken from the world wide web should reference the specific web site address. For example: "Permits to take fur seals are issued under the MMPA and the FSA (http://www.nmfs.gov/tmcintyr/permits/appl_ins.html)."

  4. References cited: List all published materials referred to in the manuscript alphabetically by first author. Each citation should be complete, according to the following examples:

    Article: Day, R.H., and D.G. Shaw. 1987. Patterns in the abundance of pelagic plastic and tar in the North Pacific Ocean, 1976-1985. Marine Pollution Bulletin 18:311-310.

    Book: National Research Council. 1990. The Bering Sea Ecosystem. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. 307 pages.

    Chapter: Wooster, W. 1992. King crab dethroned. Pp. 15-30 in Climate Variability, Climate Change, and Fisheries, M.H. Glanz, editor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    List all interviewed sources referred to in the manuscript alphabetically by last name. Give last and first names, any affiliation, addresses and telephone numbers. For example: LaSota, Mike. F/V Defiance, PO Box 626, Seward, AK 99664, 907-224-5009.

    For references to electronic "publications," alphabetically list agency, application, web site, and date accessed. For example: National Marine Fisheries Service; marine mammal permits. http://ww.nmfs.gov/tmcintyr/permits/appl_ins.html. 6/18/98.

    Any published document downloaded from a web site must cite the original published source; do not use a web site address citation for published materials (e.g., a scientific journal paper) obtained on the web.

  5. Figures and tables: A complete set of page-size tables and figures must be included with each copy of the manuscript. Laser prints, inkjet, or page-size photographs are equally acceptable. Do not send mounted photographs or oversize figures. Each table and figure should be accompanied by a legend or caption. Plan tables and figures with care. Each table and figure legend or caption should be on the same page as the table or figure.

A few helpful links

Basic steps in the research process

General writing concerns (planning/writing/revising)

Hints for giving oral presentations using PowerPoint [PDF; 2.7 MB]

Finding information on the Internet (Univ. of California Berkeley)

Search the Internet and find Websites (UC Berkeley)

Getting it published

After the manuscript is reviewed by the judges, their suggestions, corrections and editing comments will be sent to you. These comments should be used to make your oral presentation stronger and should be incorporated into your final manuscript. Because all project reports will be published on the Sea Grant web site after the regional competition, all corrections should be made by 6 February 2009. Bring an original of the revised project and an electronic version on CD to the regional competition.

Web publishing guidelines

Electronic documents should be saved in Microsoft Word, Word Perfect, RTF (rich text format), or text-only. If you would like to submit your paper in HTML, contact the web coordinator for clearance to do so. Figures must be clean and clear if provided in hard copy. If figures are electronic, they must be in one of the following formats: EPS, TIFF, GIF, JPEG, or PDF. All electronic submissions must be accompanied by hard copy so we can see what the paper and figures are supposed to look like.