1.1.1  Preparing to Be An Editor

1.1.2  Things to Decide Right Away

1.1.2.1  Allocate specific tasks to each editor
 
1.1.2.2  Decide which editor the authors should contact with questions
 
1.1.2.3  Determine page limitations for the volume and authors' papers
 
1.1.2.4  Determine deadlines for paper submissions
 
1.1.2.5  Determine reference style to be used for the entire volume
 
1.1.2.6  Decide whether to include and how to record discussions, summaries, and highlights
 
1.1.2.7  Draft rules and guidelines for the authors regarding file naming, deadlines, images, figures and tables, references, etc.
 
1.1.2.8  Decide how to set up the book
 
1.1.2.9  Decide how to cover publishing costs
 
1.1.2.10  Make arrangements for referees, if desired

1.1.3  Interaction with Authors

1.1.3.1  Set up a web site for collection of papers
 
1.1.3.2  Provide templates with macros to authors
 
1.1.3.3  Notify authors of deadlines to submit papers and provide rules or guidelines
 
1.1.3.4  Provide copyright information and copyright form to authors
 
1.1.3.5  Provide "permission to use" information to authors

1.1.4  Instructions, Templates, Macros and Forms

1.2  At the Conference– Getting Manuscripts

1.2.1  Make Final Decisions on Page Limitations and Book Layout

1.2.2  Get Copyright Forms Signed

1.2.3  Remind about Deadlines for Submission of Papers or Collect Papers

1.2.4  Update Mailing Information

1.2.5  Take a Photograph of Conference Participants

1.3  After the Conference– Getting All Set

1.3.1  Prepare Mailing List to sent to ASP

1.3.1.1  Mailing List Format
 
1.3.1.2  Important Mailing List Instructions

1.3.2  Advanced Invoicing

1.3.3  Solicit Submissions from Authors as Needed

1.3.4  Edit Papers

 

 

1.1  Before the Conference–Getting Organized

1.1.1  Preparing to Be an Editor

For excellent advice on editing a volume and writing papers of your own, please read this paper, published in ASPCS Vol. 349, p. 445: "Advice on Writing a Scientific Paper" by C. Sterken.

1.1.2  Things to Decide Right Away

1.1.2.1  Allocate specific tasks to each editor. Select the editors well in advance of the conference. The conference proceedings will be published much more quickly if responsibilities are shared between the co-editors. For example, you may wish to give the responsibility for copy-editing to one editor and scientific refereeing to another. Although refereeing can be done by more than one person, it is wise to have only one copy-editor to ensure uniformity of style and format.

1.1.2.2  Decide which editor the authors should contact with questions. This is necessary for conformity throughout the volume and will make it easier for your authors to have one contact person.

1.1.2.3  Determine page limitations for the volume and authors' papers. The length of your volume should have been determined based on the number of volumes that will be ordered, usually equal to the number of attendees or more (see Information on Page Limitations in Part A, Section 5.2). Now you'll need to determine page lengths for the authors' papers. These often vary depending on the type of paper or presentation (e.g., regular presenters, an invited or keynote speaker, a panel discussion, a poster paper). Be sure to allocate enough space so figures and illustrations will not be too small. Other items mentioned below in this Section 1.1.2 may also affect the allocation of pages in the volume.

1.1.2.4  Determine deadlines for paper submissions. Since the manuscript of your entire volume should be submitted within months of your conference, you'll want to set a deadline for the authors soon after the conclusion of the conference, or at the conference itself. Most editors say the biggest problem they have is getting the papers from the authors. A previous editor found it much easier to have his authors submit their papers at the conference, including all source files and copyright forms. After the conference, authors were given one month to make any changes and resubmit the paper. If they didn't resubmit, then the editor used the one submitted at the conference. This greatly reduced the time and stress spent on getting authors to submit their papers by the requested deadline and allowed for faster publishing. (See also Section 1.3.3 below.)

1.1.2.5  Determine reference style to be used for the entire volume. We recommend the ApJ style(see http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/ApJ/instruct/instruct.text.html, 1.11.2. Reference List). For ease of editing, we recommend you ask authors to use a set LaTeX referencing method such as "thebibliography" environment, making certain that all \bibitem entries are complete. Stressing to authors the importance of completely following the Instructions for Authors will make your job much easier when you combine all papers together into one manuscript. (See Instructions for Authors, § 4.)

1.1.2.6  Decide whether to include and how to record discussions, summaries, and highlights. If you wish to include discussions, summaries or highlights, you may do so using the command given in the Instructions for Editors, § 2.10. We recommend that they be inserted as an unnumbered section at the very end of the article after the references if the discussion is part of a paper. If the discussion concludes a session of the conference, the conference format may dictate that they appear at the end of each Part of the volume. If you wish to include discussions in the volume, make arrangements before the conference to record and transcribe the discussions.

1.1.2.7 Draft rules and guidelines for the authors regarding file naming, deadlines, images, figures and tables, references, etc. One of the most crucial responsibilities of an editor is communicating expectations to the authors. It is important to draft a set of definite guidelines for them to follow before they start work on their papers. The following items might be included:

• a link to the Author's Information page of this website (http://www.aspbooks.org/author_information/) for the latest ASPCS information, templates and macros
• conventions for consistent file naming (e.g., firstauthorsurname.tex for the paper's main file and firstauthorsurname_fig1.eps for figures);
• the number of pages allowed for each type of paper;
• the deadlines and how to submit their papers;
• which editor to contact with questions;
• requirements for image quality and format (see Part C, Section 4 and also Instructions for Authors, §3.6);
• layout and margin requirements for text, figures and tables;
• the reference and citation style to be used;
• the importance of avoiding author definitions or custom LaTeX packages;
• the need to avoid space management tools such as \vspace commands;
• the recommendation to use \plotone or \plottwo unless \plotfiddle is absolutely necessary;
• any other important items

You may wish to review Instructions for Authors when drafting these rules and guidelines. Giving clear guidelines up front will make your job as an editor much easier. One experienced editor commented, "Set rules for authors. List do NOTs! I spent over 200 hours just fixing references from authors." (See also Interaction with Authors, Section 1.1.3, below.)

1.1.2.8  Decide how to set up the book. Before beginning to put the manuscript together, determine a few basics about the volume's layout. This will help also in determining page lengths for authors' papers. Determine if each paper should begin on the right hand side (an odd-numbered page) or if papers may begin on both left and right pages. Also decide whether to include pages for part headings or section headings and if they will have blank pages before and after them to help them stand out. Finally, choose whether to include photos or other materials in appropriate locations to enhance the volume. Photos are often inserted on pages which would otherwise be blank at the end of a paper or section if each paper in the volume begins on the right-hand (odd) page. We recommend looking at previous volumes of the ASP Conference Series for ideas.

1.1.2.9  Decide how to cover publishing costs. Make final plans now for paying for the proceedings; whether the volume's cost will be included in the conference fee, added on as a separate charge, etc. For more information on invoicing, see Part A, Section 5.5, and for other possible options to help cover publishing costs, please see Part A, Section 5.6.

1.1.2.10  Make arrangements for referees, if desired. The ASP Conference Series does not referee conference proceedings. If you desire to have your volume refereed, make those arrangements early.

1.1.3  Interaction with Authors

Effective communication with the authors makes compiling the volume—and therefore, your job—much easier. Many of these items are available on our Author's Information; please provide your authors with a link to that page. The following things should be done right away:

1.1.3.1 Set up a website for collection of papers. We recommend that paper submission information be part of your website. It would be helpful to post the guidelines for the authors, deadlines for paper submission, links to the ASP author macros, contact information, as well as an interface to upload the source files for their papers. Browsing the links to conference websites at the following URL can show what other editors have done: http://cadcwww.dao.nrc.ca/cadcbin/get_meetings?year=2006. Contact our Publication Manager, Lisa Roper, at lisa@aspbooks.org for other suggested websites.

1.1.3.2  Provide templates with macros to authors. The ASP author templates and macros are available on the Authors' Information Page (Part C. on this web site). Editors may post a link to them from the conference web site. Remind the authors to follow the author instructions carefully and to not change the macros–especially fonts, margins, or adding in special definitions or LaTeX packages. This will prevent compilation problems and will simplify the editor's job.

1.1.3.3  Notify authors of deadlines to submit papers and provide rules or guidelines. This may be done through the conference website, at the conference and by direct contact. As previously suggested, it may be easiest to have a preliminary deadline with papers due at the conference, with any revisions, if desired, due one month later. Regardless of which date you choose, set a date well before you plan to submit the volume to the publisher. Please tell the authors your address and how to submit their papers (by mail, website, FTP, electronic files only or also hard copy, etc.) Do not have authors send papers directly to the ASP.

1.1.3.4  Provide copyright information and copyright form to authors. Many questions regarding copyrights are answered by The Chicago Manual of Style, paragraph 4.13, provided in Part C, Section 2.2 (the Authors' Information page). Copyrights should be obtained by editors from authors prior to the publication of the manuscript. We strongly recommend that the copyright forms be signed and collected at the conference, eliminating the need to collect the forms later through the mail.

Copyright forms may be downloaded from the Instructions, Templates, Macros and Forms Page or the Authors' Information Page of this website, or a link to them may be posted on the conference website for the authors' convenience.

Authors of Governmental Agencies may be instructed to check the box at the bottom of the copyright form if the last paragraph of the copyright form is applicable:

"An author who is a U.S. Government officer or employee and who prepared the paper as a part of his or her official duties does not own any copyright in it. If at least one of the authors are not in this category, that author should sign below. If all of the authors are in this category, please check the box below and return the form unsigned."

[  ] All authors are U.S. Government officials or employees and prepared the submitted article as part of their official duties.

Please make sure authors identify the meeting on the copyright form. Please collect the copyright forms from the authors and, once forms have been received from ALL authors, send them collectively to the ASPCS:

Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) Conference Series
Room N211 - ESC / PO Box 4666
Brigham Young University
Provo UT 84602-4666
(801) 422-2111

1.1.3.5  Provide "permission to use" information from authors. Authors and editors are solely responsible for ensuring that permissions have been received and sources credited for all text or figures–anything which has been previously published, belongs to someone else or has been used elsewhere. Please see Part C, Section 2.1 for a form to use and suggested wording which can be added to the end of a figure caption. Editors must check to make certain permissions have been received.

1.1.4  Instructions, Templates, Macros and Forms

You may download all the necessary instructions, templates, macros and forms here.