Instructions for Document Preparation

Research paper for Alaska Region NOSB

The research project is optional. Teams can compete in the quiz bowl portion of the Tsunami Bowl without doing a project, but since the project is responsible for half of a team's total score, a team not doing the project has no chance of being the overall winner and progressing to the national competition in April 2010.

The project is made up of two equally weighted parts—a 20-page paper due to the project coordinator, Dean Stockwell, in Fairbanks by December 1, 2009, and a 20-minute oral presentation given by the team at the Tsunami Bowl in Seward in February 2010. The paper and the oral presentation are each worth 25 points. Missing the deadline for the paper will result in a 5-point penalty, with an additional one-point reduction for each week the paper is late. Contact Dean if there are extenuating circumstances that he should take into account.

The paper turned into Dean in December should be considered the final product. If a team would like some critical feedback from Dean before turning in their final paper, they are encouraged to submit an optional outline to Dean by October 15. Dean will review the outline and make comments and suggestions which he will try to send to the team within two weeks.

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. Please also identify the primary contact for the manuscript. Electronic copy to Dean Stockwell must be received no later than December 1, 2009. Electronic submissions must be accompanied by a hard copy so we can see what the paper and figures are supposed to look like.

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

Email: dean@ims.uaf.edu

Physical address:

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

Late manuscripts will be penalized as described above.

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. Also indicate which author will be the primary contact for the paper in case of questions.
  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 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

Project reports will be published on the Sea Grant Web site after the regional competition. If you have made corrections after submitting the paper for review, please bring a paper copy and an electronic version on CD to the regional competition and turn them in to Phyllis Shoemaker. This will have no effect on the final score given the paper, but will allow the paper posted on the Web site to be as correct as possible.

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.