Revised Instruction to
Authors--November 2009
The AFTE Editor will consider all manuscripts that have been prepared
using the following guidelines. Each submission will be assigned to an
Editorial Review Panel Member who will serve as the primary contact for
that submission. Once this primary review is complete, a secondary
review will be completed by the Editor and one or more Assistant
Editors. This is to insure the best possible product for publication.
Manuscript
Requirements
The Editor uses Adobe
InDesign to publish the Journal which can handle MS Word or WordPerfect
Documents.
Manuscripts should
include the following:
| A
Title-- |
Please title your paper briefly and professionally. Titles not
reflective of the manuscript’s content may be changed by the
editor.
|
| The
Author(s)-- |
Name,
agency, city, state and country
|
| Key
Words-- |
Listed in alphabetical order, the key words should be words that
one would search to find your specific paper
|
|
Abstract-- |
The
purpose of the abstract is to give an overview of what the
article is about. It should be brief and to the point. It should
state the problem, give the most important findings and results
and briefly describe the conclusions. The abstract should be no
longer than 200 words. The length of most abstracts should be
similar to this sample. Manuscripts without an abstract may not
be published. The editor reserves the right to write an abstract
on behalf of the author if none is submitted.
|
Body--
|
The
body of the manuscript should be broken up under appropriate
headings when applicable (eg. Introduction, Literature Review,
Materials & Methods, Results and Conclusion). The Editor
reserves the right to separate text under headings when
applicable. |
|
Footnotes/References-- |
Appropriate footnotes and references should be cited if
applicable.
|
Authors are asked to utilize the
following guidelines when using references or footnotes in the context
of their submission. References are to be cited in text by number, in
order of mention. Use Arabic numerals with brackets, eg. [1], on line
and not as superscripts. The reference list should be double spaced.
Some sample references are given below.
Book: Smith, A.B., Jones, C.D., and Johnson, E.F., An Introduction
to Forensic Sciences, General Publications, New York, 1999.
Article: Smith, A.B., Jones, C.D., and Johnson, E.F., “Crime
Scenes,” AFTE Journal, Vol. 33, No. 2, Jan. 1999, pp. 19-23.
Report: Smith, A.B., Jones, C.D., and Johnson, E.F., “Crime Scenes,”
Report 3579, Department of Justice, Washington, DC, 1999.
Presentation: Smith, A.B., Jones, C.D., and Johnson, E.F., “Crime
Scenes,” Presented at the 33rd AFTE Training Seminar, Chicago, IL, May,
1999.
Personal communication: Smith, A.B. Personal Communication, March
13, 2009.
Website: “[CBE] Council of Biology Editors”. 1999 Oct 5. CBE home
page. <http://www.councilscienceeditors.org>. Accessed 1999 Oct 7.
Court Decision: Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509
U.S. 579 (1993)
For those not familiar with the legal citations:
Case Name - Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Volume Number - 509
Name of Reporter - U.S.
Page Number - 579
Year of Decision - (1993)
Requirements for Tables, Images
and Photos
Tables should be submitted in an MS Excel Spreadsheet. Please note
that if tables are submitted in the manuscript text file, they must be
converted to a MS Excel file by the Editor prior to importing it into
the formatting program. This can be done, but creates additional work
for the Editor.
Images and Photos should be submitted as separate files. Please note
that Images/Photos with arrows or text embedded with Photoshop or other
imaging software may not be clearly read once placed in the formatting
program. It is for this reason that the editor requests that BOTH
altered and unaltered photos submitted. If an unaltered photo is
submitted, text and/or arrows on an image can be recreated by the editor
if the author’s alterations do not appear clearly once imported into the
formatting program.
What to Submit--The Authors’ Publication Checklist must be submitted
with your materials. These forms are located here and on the web site
www.afte.org. Manuscripts may be submitted on a CD, or via e-mail.
An Ideal submission would contain:
(1) An Authors’ Publication Checklist
(2) *One or more Manuscript Review Forms
(3) A Word or Wordperfect file containing the text of the article and
figure captions
(4) Excel file(s) containing tables and/or graphs
(5) A medium to high resolution JPG of each image to be used in the
article (500k to 1 MB size works well)
This material can be submitted by email or compact disk. If submitting
via email, please limit your submissions to 20MB. Submissions over 20MB
should be mailed on CD. 10MB is the maximum to be attached to a single
email. If submitting more than 10MB, please separate your submission
into two emails.
If submitting via email, Submission Checklists and Review Forms can be
either be faxed or scanned and sent electronically.
*While manuscript review forms are not required, they are encouraged.
Submitted articles that have previously been reviewed by a peer
typically have fewer corrections to be made by Editorial Panel Staff.
Fewer corrections typically translate into less time in review.
Documentation of Weights and
Measures
As a courtesy to all AFTE Members, it is recommended that the
documentation of weights and measures be denoted in both Imperial Units
and Metric Units. This serves to benefit those who are unfamiliar with
one of the two methods.
Important Tips
IMPORTANT NOTE – DO NOT try to duplicate the Journal formatting as it
exists in the journal. All formatting within an article will be
reformatted by the Editor prior to publication.
Excessive formatting of articles is discouraged. This includes bold,
italics and underlined text. While this may make your article look good
for submission, most advanced formatting does not transfer to InDesign
and must be recreated by the Editor.
Please keep pictures and charts separate from the body of the text
whether as separate items or files on disc. The Editor will place all
pictures and charts in a logical location.
Please format mathematical formulas and characters appropriately.
Mathematical formulas or complicated symbols must be saved as a complete
image. If the article contains unusual formatted objects it is unlikely
that they will properly translate into the Journal.
You must submit any images, tables or charts appropriately labeled as
separate files. Images embedded into a MS Word file will print with poor
resolution when formatted for the Journal.
Types of Submissions
Article
Any manuscript that provides an in-depth discussion of a specific topic
or subject matter that relates directly to the science of firearms and
toolmark identification and/or its application. Articles will present
the author’s own observations and research to support any conclusions
drawn, events reported, or opinions given.
Case Report
Any manuscript that covers the details of an unusual case or any case
that warrants discussion in the AFTE Journal. Case reports, however, may
be published as an article if the editor feels that the author has
adequately extended the case report into a topic discussion that meets
the criteria for an article, or if the case report is used as an example
of a point in the author’s article.
Technical Report
Any discussion, report, or brief that presents a particular product or
technique for the benefit of AFTE members.
Letters to the Editor
Reply or rebuttal to items printed in the AFTE Journal will be published
in the next scheduled journal when possible. To be considered for
publication, these replies should reference the original article and be
composed with cordial and professional demeanor.
Reprints
Copies of articles submitted to the editor for consideration to reprint
in the AFTE Journal should be accompanied by the name and address of the
original publisher as well as a reference to exactly where the article
first appeared. The original publisher will be contacted by the author,
and must submit with the reprint request, their authorization prior to
reprinting any material. This includes technical information,
advertisements, schematic drawings, etc.
Instructions to Authors (Word
Doc)
www.afte.org
