Instructions for Contributors to JGE

The Journal of Geoscience Education publishes papers related to pedagogical, cognitive, educational, historical, philosophical, and cultural, aspects of all the geosciences, including such related fields as geophysics, geochemistry, oceanography, astronomy, meteorology, soil science, and environmental sciences. Broadly speaking, it is the objective of the Journal to improve geoscience instruction at all levels and in all settings. Although material published in the Journal should somehow be related to instruction, review papers on topics that are experiencing significant change will be considered.

*See below for POLICIES FOR REVISION OF ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPTS*

MANUSCRIPT STYLE GUIDE
JOURNAL OF GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION (JGE)

EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2009

Authors should refer to the Journal of Geoscience Education Content Guidelines for review criteria and manuscript categories.

Overview
Beginning in 2009, JGE will transition to a new editorial structure and online submission process. The style guide for submitted manuscripts has been revised significantly to facilitate this transition and to ensure efficient review and publication of manuscripts submitted to JGE.

Important notes:

1. All submissions must be accompanied by a cover letter. The copyright release form will no longer be required with submitted manuscripts; this form will be completed upon manuscript acceptance.
2. All figures and tables submitted with manuscripts should be embedded in submitted manuscripts, rather than submitted as separate files. This will facilitate the review process.
3. An option for a double-blind review has been added. Authors interested in taking advantage of double-blind review should make sure that their name does not appear on the submitted manuscript file.
4. Authors are responsible for reformatting manuscripts to comply with style guidelines as described below. Compliance with this style guide will assist the JGE editorial staff in timely publication of your manuscript. Authors should ensure that their manuscripts are accurate and consistent in terms of spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Manuscripts not in compliance with this style guide will be returned to authors for revision.

GENERAL
The Journal ONLY accepts submissions through an online submission system:

http://jge.peerx-press.org/cgi-bin/main.plex

Authors are to submit no more than THREE files. These three files should contain:

1. A cover letter briefly describing the manuscript, classifying the manuscript as either a Curriculum & Instruction, Research, or Commentary paper, and stating that the manuscript is not under consideration or published elsewhere.
2. The manuscript with figures and tables embedded in the text. This will facilitate the review process. This manuscript file should be in PDF, WORD, or RTF format. PDF files are preferred;
3. Any supplemental file. This file should be in the format most appropriate to the material (PDF for text; .MOV for movies, etc.). Please contact the Co-Editor for Production at jge@msu.edu if multiple supplemental files need to be submitted.

All manuscript files must be named to include the first author's name, submission date and file content. For example, the authors Smith, Thomas, and Akila might submit these three files on Jan. 10, 2009:
1) A cover letter: "Smith_JAN10_2009_Cover_Letter.PDF"
2) A manuscript: "Smith_JAN10_2009_Manuscript.PDF"
3) A supplemental file: "Smith_JAN10_2009_Supplement.MOV"


MANUSCRIPT STYLE POLICIES
All manuscripts submitted for review must be in accordance with the following policies. If you have any questions or comments, please contact JGE at: jge@msu.edu. These guidelines are adapted from previous JGE style guides as well as guidelines for journals published by the Geological Society of America (GSA). GSA is a sister organization of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers.

I. FORMATTING
All manuscripts should be formatted as follows:

A. TEXT

1. One inch margins
2. Double-spaced
3. Twelve point font
4. Headings and title in Helvetica font, bold
5. All other text in Book Antiqua font, plain
6. Use the International System of units (metric)
7. Include a maximum 200 word, informative abstract in your paper. The abstract should include a topic sentence introducing the paper, and essential elements and findings. See Content Guidelines for specific details about other manuscript content.

B. TABLES
All tables should reproduce the following effects.

1. Tables should be submitted as single-spaced RTF files.
2. Tables should be numbered, in order of appearance within the manuscript text, and titled. Titles should be 12-point, Book Antigua font, capitalized and bolded.
3. All table text should be 10 or 11-point, Book Antigua font, centered.
4. Table headings should be bolded. All other text should be plain, with italics used only if needed for emphasis.
5. Numerical data should be to the appropriate significant figures.
6. Table elements requiring explanation should be footnoted using superscripted numbers. Footnotes should appear outside the body of the table, and should be in 10-point font.
7. Orient the table in either portrait or landscape to minimize the space required for publication. The editorial staff may reorient these as needed.

C. FIGURES

1. Figures must be submitted in JPG format at a minimum of 600 dpi resolution. We recommend a higher resolution for figures to ensure high publication quality. Figures pasted into WORD or other similar program and converted to JPG generally have poor quality, and we recommend that authors use specially designed programs (such as CANVAS or ILLUSTRATOR) in preparing figures.
2. Figure captions should be submitted on a separate page at the end of the manuscript RTF file.

D. REFERENCES CITED
JGE is changing its reference format and adopting the format used by the publication Geology. The reference databases RefWorks and EndNote can both produce references in this format. An example journal article format is: Angelo, C., 2012, Great reference: Journal of Geoscience Education, v. 42, p. 12–67.

Other formats are available at: http://www.geosociety.org/pubs/geoguid5.htm

GUIDE FOR REVISION OF ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPTS
JOURNAL OF GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION (JGE)

EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2009

Authors should refer to JGE Content Guidelines for review criteria and manuscript categories. Authors should refer to JGE Manuscript Style Guide for formatting.

POLICIES FOR REVISION OF ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPTS

1. All manuscripts accepted for publication must be revised and submitted in accordance with the following policies. If you have any questions or comments, please contact JGE at: jge@msu.edu.
2. A letter responding to all Co-Editor, Associate Editor, and Reviewer comments must accompany the revised manuscript. This letter should also describe all revisions that have been made to the manuscript.
3. Manuscript text, tables, and figures must be formatted to meet JGE MANUSCRIPT STYLE POLICIES.
4. Manuscript text and tables should be submitted in a single RTF file. Each figure must be submitted as a high-quality JPG file.
5. All manuscript files must be named to include the manuscript number, author name, and file content. For example, Figure 3 for manuscript 09-10 written by Smith, Thomas, and Akila should be named: "09-10_Smith_Figure3.JPG"
6. All manuscript files must be submitted to: http://jge.peerx-press.org/cgi-bin/main.plex.
   
7. COPYRIGHT. The Journal is copyrighted under the 1976 United States Statute. Revised manuscripts accepted for publication must be accompanied by a completed and signed copy of the copyright release form. Readers may copy and use material from the Journal for non-commercial purposes of educational or scientific advancement.
8. PAGE CHARGES. JGE requests that authors help defray the cost of publication through page charges. A fee of $100 per page is charged to authors who have institutional, industrial, or grant funds available to pay publication costs. Under no circumstances will an author's ability to pay page charges impact publication decisions.
9. PERMISSIONS. Obtaining necessary permissions for the use of published materials is the responsibility of authors. Permission must be acquired for reproduction of figures or tables published elsewhere, even if publication was made by the author(s). Credit lines should be included when appropriate.