Manuscript Guidelines for the Transactions of the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference

Manuscript submittal form (pdf)

All those presenting at the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference must submit an original manuscript for publication in the Transactions of the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference (Transactions). By agreeing to present at the conference, one is agreeing to submit a final manuscript.

Following are the Wildlife Management Institute’s (WMI’s) guidelines and standards for publication.

If manuscripts do not follow the guidelines outlined on these pages, they may be returned to the author(s) for revision to conform to the style. Or, they may not be included in the Transactions. In the case that authors are unable to submit a manuscript by the deadline, WMI may have the presentation transcribed at the author’s(s’) expense. With the transcription option, any right to see page proofs is foregone, edits made by WMI are accepted and the presentation is automatically conferred to WMI.

Most importantly, authors are responsible for the quality and legitimacy of their work.

The manuscript deadline is March 1. By this date, have sent the full and final manuscript with a completed manuscript submission form to the special session chair, to the special session cochair and to WMI’s Transactions editor (Richard McCabe at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ). Manuscripts received after March 1 will not be accepted unless special permission has been obtained from the Transactions editor. If a paper is not submitted, it is WMI’s prerogative to reject or transcribe the presentation, in the best interest of the Transactions.

The manuscript cannot have been published previously, including on the Internet. WMI claims copyright to all presentations in the special sessions.

The final, typed manuscript cannot exceed 20, double-spaced pages, including all illustrations, figures, photographs, tables, captions and reference material. Papers accepted for panel presentations cannot exceed 15 pages. If more length is absolutely necessary, permission for such must be given by WMI; the author(s) may be subject to charges for additional pages. The final manuscript should be saved as a Microsoft Word file or as a Corel WordPerfect file, using the author’s(s’) names as the file name.

Format

Page Format

1. The manuscript should be double spaced.
2. Indent the beginning of all paragraphs.
3. The manuscript is typed in 11-point, Times New Roman font. Note, Times font is different.

Paper Format

Note that the oral presentation of a paper can be vastly different from the publication of a paper. Oral presenters have the benefit of facial expressions, inflection and visual aids to frame the work. While, publications rely on writing standards and style commonalities to frame the work. This is one reason WMI mandates that presenters submit a written paper; transcriptions rarely translate as authors intend, especially when presenters rely heavily on Microsoft PowerPoint.

1. Title and Author Information
   The special session’s title is typed in bold and using all capital letters at the top of the first page of the paper. A line should be skipped and the title of the paper is typed in bold. Another line is skipped, and the primary author’s name, organization, and the city and state of the organization should appear. The same is then required for all coauthors, each as a separate entry. All other contact information — i.e., address, phone number, e-mail address—need not be included on the final manuscript because such information is on the manuscript submittal form.
2. Justification
   All elements, except the indented first line of a paragraph, are flush with the left margin.
3. Headings
   • Main headings have capitalized initial letters, are flush with left margin and are bold, e.g., Introduction to Wildlife Management
   • Subheadings have capitalized initial letters, are flush with the left margin, are bold and are italicized, e.g., Elements of a Sound Conservation Program
   • Subsubheadings are lower case (except for the first letter), are flush with the left margin, are underlined and are followed by a period; text begins two spaces after the period, e.g., Migratory patterns of elk. Elk in the Jackson Hole area tend to move during . . . .
4. Illustrations and Figures
   • Do not embed illustrations, figures or photographs in the electronic manuscript text. Instead, send them—as either TIFs or JPGs in at least 300 dots-per-inch (dpi) resolution—as separate electronic files, i.e., with file extensions .tif or .jpg, not .doc or .wpd. Do not paste illustrations and figures into word-processing documents. The Transactions editor will place the illustrations, figures and photographs in the text, based on the callouts.
   • Illustrations, figures and photographs must be reducible to a legible 4.75- by 7-inch format, oriented portrait-style.
   • Illustrations, figures and photographs must be original, high-contrast and print-quality.
   • Illustration, figure and photograph captions (that include a citation of the source if the figure is not generated by the author[s]) should be saved in a separate captions file. The number of the caption should correspond to the file name of the electronic graphic file. And, it should correspond to a figure callout in the text.
   • If copyright belongs to someone other than the author(s), permission to use the illustration, figure or photograph must be secured, and a letter of this transfer must be sent to theTransactions editor.
5. Tables
   • Do not embed tables in the electronic manuscript text; instead, send them as separate electronic files in Microsoft Word or in Corel WordPerfect. Do not paste tables into wordprocessing documents. The Transactions editor will place the tables in the text, based on the callouts.
   • All tables must be reducible to a legible 4.75- by 7-inch format. Tables likely will be reformatted to adjust to the Transactions format.
   • Table headings (that include a citation of the source if the figure is not generated by the author[s]) should be saved in a separate table headings file. The number of the table heading should correspond to the file name of the separate, electronic table file. And, it should correspond to a table callout in the text. Table headings begin with “Table,” are followed by a period, followed by one space, are flush left and end with a period, e.g., Table 1. Mean survival of game-farm mallards.
   • If copyright belongs to someone other than the author(s), permission to use the illustration, figure or photograph must be secured, and a letter of this transfer must be sent to the Transactions editor.
   • Avoid abbreviations in tables.
   • Precede decimal numbers with a zero.
6. Notes and Acknowledgments
   Note material—i.e., information traditionally contained in footnotes and endnotes — and acknowledgments should be incorporated within the text or cited as an intertextual reference. Footnotes, endnotes and acknowledgments will be deleted.
7. Taxonomic Names
   Scientific names of plants and animals shall be provided in both text and tables. The genus and species need follow only the first usage of the common name in parentheses, and they should be italicized, e.g., white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus).
8. Intertextual Citations (references cited within text)
   • Give the last name of the author and the year of publication in parentheses, e.g., (Doe 1973).
   • For texts having two authors, use both names in the intertextual citation, e.g., (Doe and Smith 2004). For texts having more than two authors, use “et al.,” e.g., (Doe et al. 2003) in the intertextual citation, but include full names of all authors in reference list.
   • Designate more than one publication by the same author(s) in the same year with letters that correspond with the reference in the reference list, e.g., (Doe 1973a, 1973b).
   • All quotations must be accompanied by an intertextual citation that corresponds to a bibliographic reference in the reference list. If a quotation is used, include the page number(s) in the citation, e.g., (Doe 1973:4) or (Doe 1974:23–4); unreferenced quotations will be deleted.
   • Personal files, personal communications or unpublished data cited in text are not included in the reference list, but they are cited in the text. They are comprised of the author’s first initial(s), the last name, followed by a comma, followed by the type of communication, followed by the year, e.g., (J. A. Smith, personal communication 1942).
9. Reference List
   • List references alphabetically by the (primary) author’s last name. Then, list references alphabetically by coauthors. Then, list references chronologically. Finally, list references chronologically and designated by the letters “a,” “b,” “c,” etc., to show texts published in the same year by all the same authors.
   • List all authors or editors. “Et al.” is not accepted in the reference list section.
   • Capitalize only the first word and proper names in titles, unless the word follows end-stop punctuation and unless it is a periodical or a journal title, e.g., Coney, W. 1978. Population models. In Big game of Africa: Saving the safari, ed. J. L. Keff, and D. L. Mar, 129–47. Chicago, Illinois: Southside Press.
   • Unpublished manuscripts, including theses and Pittman-Robertson Act project documents, should be listed in full, e.g., Jones, J. 1974. Woodcock production in northern hardwood forests. M. S. thesis, Department of Zoology, University of Iowa.
   • As previously noted, The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition is WMI’s style guide; therefore, please check it for complete citation methods. In general, the author(s), title, date, publisher and location of publisher are necessary, at least. Additional information may be needed, depending on the publication. For example:
     • a book with one author, e.g., Doe, Jane. 1999. Wildlife management policy: Laws in the United States. Chicago, Illinois: Illinois Press.
     • a book with multiple authors, e.g., Doe, Jane, John Doe, and Jack Smith. 2000. Foreign wildlife managementpolicy: Laws in European nations. Paris, France: Parisian Publishing and Printing.
     • an article in a periodical or journal, e.g., Doe, John. 1998. Grizzly bears in northern New Hampshire. New EnglandScience Magazine. 26(4):43–9.
     • a compiled publication, e.g., Smith, Jack, ed. 2000. Mountain lions. Aspen, Colorado: Colorado Publishing Company.
     • a publication with an organization in place of an author, e.g., U.S. Department of Wildlife. 2001. Policy in North America. Los Angeles, California: U.S. Department of Wildlife.
     • vi. a chapter in a book, e.g., Smith, Jack. 1999. Polar bears. In Northern hemisphere animals, ed. Jane Doe, 209–38. Juneau, Alaska: Snow Press.
     • a conference proceeding, e.g., Smith, Jack. 2002. Scientific research in the West. In Transactions of the67th North American wildlife and natural resources conference, ed. R. E. McCabe, 169–74. Washington, DC: Wildlife Management Institute. Or, if proceedings are serialized Smith, Jack. 2002. Scientific research in the West. Transactions of theNorth American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference. 67:169–74.
     • an Internet site, e.g., Doe, John. 2002. Obtaining a hunting license in Kentucky. Kentucky Animal Association. http://www.huntkentucky.org/license.
     • a congressional record, e.g., U.S. Congress. Congressional Record. 81st Congress, 1st session, 2000. Volume 82, part 20.
     • a bill or resolution U.S. Congress. House. Big Game Hunting Act of 2000. 82nd Congress, 2nd session. Congressional Record 200, number 200, daily edition. (February 20, 2000): House Resolution 2000–2100.
10. Weights and Measures
    In text and tables, use English standard units followed by the metric equivalent (in this case abbreviated) in parentheses, e.g., 31 square miles (80.3 km2).
11. Abbreviations
    • Eschew abbreviations, except for clock time (a.m., p.m.), standard titles (Mr., Mrs., Dr., etc.) and certain standard expressions (e.g., etc., i.e.).
    • Do not abbreviate place names, calendar dates, states, et cetera.
    • For acronyms, spell out the first usage completely and follow with the acronym in parentheses, e.g., U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
    • For long titles, follow the first use of the full title with a shorter version in parentheses; use the shorter version thereafter, e.g., U.S. National Wildlife Refuge System (Refuge System).
    • When using “United States” as an adjective, abbreviate it to U.S., i.e., U.S. Senate. When using “United States” as a noun, spell out the entire phrase, i.e., the moose in the United States.
12. Symbols
    • Use symbols sparingly and only those of common, universal meaning; e.g., $10 million. Do not use %; spell out “percent” or “percentage.”
    • Instead, write out the entire word, e.g., more than 13 units, not > than 13 units.
    • Define all variables (The Transactions has a greatly varied audience; do not rely on standard professional symbols, for they are not standard to all professions.), e.g., the response rate was 94 percent (n = 37, where n represents. . .), or the tracking program utilized r2 = x/y, where r represents. . ., x represents. . .and y represents. . . .
13. Numerals
    • Use numerals for all enumerations or dimensions, weight, measure, distance, clock time, years, money, percentage, degrees, dates, page numbers and decimals.
    • Otherwise, spell out isolated numbers less than 10. But, use numerals for numbers 10 or greater; this rule for cardinal numbers also applies to ordinal numbers. If you use a numeral for one number in a sentence, use numerals for all numbers in that sentence, e.g., . . . noted that 1 in 13 deer exhibited symptoms of chronic wasting disease.
    • Spell out fractions, e.g., one half.
    • Write out area as follows: 8 by 12 feet, not 8’ x 12.’
    • Spell out all numbers beginning a sentence, e.g., Two-hundred two quail were shipped.
    • When expressing very large numbers, combine the rules, e.g., 20 million.
    • Ratios should be expressed as follows: the buck to doe ratio was 1.5 to 2.0.
14. International Audience
    When writing the paper and when giving the presentation, be aware that the Transactions has an international audience that encompasses Canada, Mexico and the United States. Please, be considerate and specific in regards to the people and places referred to. For example, specify “United States” or “North America” rather than just “America.” And, write the U.S. Bureau of Land Management or the Canadian Wildlife Service.

Editing and Publications

Each author or group of coauthors has the full, personal responsibility for producing an original, top quality manuscript, including associate review before the manuscript is finalized. Session chairs and cochairs will review their session’s papers before the conference and will advise on appropriate content and quality. WMI will edit primarily for style and composition all manuscripts accepted for publication in the Transactions.

Any papers exceeding approved length of 20 pages (15 for panel discussions) may be subject to page charges.

WMI reserves the right to reject manuscripts that:

• contain information that is inaccurate, grossly misleading or inflammatory
• received after the approved deadline
• are grossly irreconcilable with these guidelines.

Copyright

By agreeing to present at the conference, authors and coauthors are agreeing to submit a manuscript by March 1. They are also agreeing to transfer copyright permission to WMI, meaning that initial and subsequent publication in print or posting on the Internet is in immediate control of WMI. All authors whose presentations are not transcribed must sign and return a copyright transmittal form to be forwarded with pageproof review. The form reinforces WMI’s copyright or declares the work uncopyrightable (public domain); the latter often is used by government employees or by contractors whose work was done for and while being employed by another organization. If reprints are offered, reprint orders will not be considered if copyright forms are not signed and returned. Transcribed presentations are automatically the possession of WMI. All sole or senior authors who submit papers by the deadline of March 1 will have opportunity to review page proofs of the manuscript. Presenters whose presentations are transcribed will not have the opportunity to review page proofs. Major revisions, later versions or additional material may not be accepted.

Responsibility of Sole or Senior Authors

The primary author is WMI’s contact; it is the primary author’s responsibility to circulate information — e.g., guidelines, page proofs and copyright forms — amongst coauthors. The sole or senior author warrants that permission has been secured for use of other copyrighted works or materials—e.g. tables, illustrations, figures and photographs—featured in part or wholly in the paper and that these works are properly cited or credited.