Guidelines for the Preparation of Contributions

Tomaž PERME

Abstract: A common question by authors of contributions is in what format the contributions should be prepared. Simple instructions are offered for easier and faster preparation and design of texts. These instructions simplify the work for authors as well as for the editing board. The instructions include only the most basic recommendations and are also written in the format recommended by the instructions.

Keywords: instructions, terminology, design, figures, graphs, tables

1 Introduction

Authors often wonder how they should prepare text and graphic material for magazine publishing format. Taking a look at the magazine itself or at published contributions does not say much. In wishing for a well-prepared contribution, some authors also try to format their contributions, but instead only create a lot on unnecessary work for themselves and for the editorial board.

The formatting of articles in scientific and professional magazines is set by the SIST ISO 215 [1] standard, but these contain only the simplest instructions to help authors achieve faster and easier preparation of the material. Since the magazine contains a lot of different contributions, from scientific and professional ones, to reports and news, the instructions specify only a general format for the preparation of material but not the content as well, which is left up to the author.

2 Description of Formatting Preparation

Among the basic guidelines are the instructions for the preparation of the page, font style and paragraph, title design, naming of the figures and tables, footnotes and sources, design of the equations and also the recommendations about the length and structure of the text.

2.1 Preparation of the page, fond and paragraph

A basic page for contributions is in portrait style, paper size A4, with 2.5 cm borders. The style of the entire contribution should be simple: font style is Times New Roman font size 12, the paragraph is set in block alignment (without indentation), and uses single line spacing. Other settings can be of your own choosing; however we recommend the presets in the text editor (as in MS Word).

2.2 Formatting titles of the Contribution, Chapters, and Sub-chapters

At the beginning the material should have a title, written in bold. The titles of chapters and sub-chapters are written in bold as well, and numbered. Numbering should be manual, meaning the style should be same as for the text, only before the text of the title should a number be added. We recommend three-level numbering at most. The fourth level of sub- chapters is not numbered any more, and the titles are only in bold.

2.3 Formatting Figures and Tables

Figures and tables have three elements; the quotation, subtitle, and figure or table itself. Every figure or table is named and given a subtitle (i.e., Figure 1, Table 1), and inside the paragraph it is cited. In the first citation the text is in italics, though with all the following ones the text is normal. Figures can be in different formats (Figure 1 and Figure 2). With photographs .TIFF format is the best, but it can also be .JPG, and for both the resolution has to be at least 300 DPI (dots per inch). Figures made with a computer program should be sent in the original, which means in the format of the program in which they were made. They can be sent also in EPS program, but letters have to be transformed into curved lines.

Slika 1. Photograph in the .JPG format

With graphs or diagrams it is necessary to also take into account the standards on measurement units and distribution of units. In the case of the graph in Figure 2, which is made with MS Excel, it is necessary to also attach to the contribution the original, which means the graph in the XLS format.

Tables have titles before the table, e.g. at the beginning (Table 1), and the cells can be separated by lines.

Table 1. Summary of the contributions in the magazine Ventil by typology for the year 2005 [3]

Figure 2. Graph imported from the MS Excel program for graphs

2.4 The marking of Citations and Writing Sources

Citations are marked within the paragraph with a number in the square parenthesis, which points to the used source. Sources are described in the list according to exactly defined rule. Each of the sources have a consecutive number in the square parenthesis, followed by the author, title of the article or book, the magazine in which the article was published, the publisher, year of publishing, and pages. After the author name is the colon, and between other information are comas. Examples are in the section Sources.

2.5 Formatting Equations

Equations should be placed in separated lines in the text and marked at right edge with the consequential number in round parenthesis, such as for instance the equation (1).

2.6 Extent/volume

Scientific and expert or technical contributions should be approximately 4 to 6 magazine pages. The total number of characters or pages made by these guidelines also depends on the number and size of figures. The approximate estimation stands that the limit for the publishing of a contribution in one piece is approximately 10 – 20 pages, including figures and taking into account these guidelines. Longer contributions are to be already as prepared as possible for publishing (at the beginning) in two or more pieces.

Reports and news usually do not exceed two pages in the magazine, which means approximately three to four pages including figures. News should be limited to a half a page in the magazine, including one figure.

2.7 Structure of the Contribution

Structure-wise, the contributions are divided roughly into two parts: scientific and expert/ technical, and reports, news, novelties, and others.

2.7.1 Structure of the Scientific and Technical/expert Contribution

Scientific and technical/expert contributions have an exactly specified structure, composed of the title, authors, abstract, key words, chapters and sub chapters, list of sources or literature, information on authors, and if necessary the title, abstract and key words also in English.

2.7.2 Structure of Other Contributions

Other contributions such as reports and news have mainly the title, text and at the end the information on author or source of the contribution. If the contribution also contains figures or tables, the authors should also take into account the guidelines for formatting figures and tables (chapter 2.3).

2.8 Terminology and Grammar

Contributions must be written in terminologically and linguistically [3] proper Slovene.

3 Conclusions

The instructions present only basic recommendations on how the text, meant for publishing in the magazine Ventil, should be designed. The instructions are written in the form of a professional/expert/technical contribution, which is recommended by these instructions. The instructions are available also on the magazine web page in PDF [4] format.

Sources

[1] SIST ISO 215:1996: Documentation – Design of Articles in Periodical and other Serial Publications.
[2] Perme, T., Kirn, B., Skok, I.: Prenova strežnih in montažnih robotov, Ventil 11/2005/4, pg.: 249 – 257.
[3] Toporišič, J.: Slovenski pravopis, ZRC SAZU, Ljubljana, 2001.
[4] Instructions for the preparation of the contributions, (www.fs.uni-lj.si/ventil/navodila.pdf).

Data on Author:
Tomaž Perme, Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za strojništvo, Uredništvo revije Ventil

Guidelines for authors

Abstract: The most frequently asked question from the authors is how to prepare the contribution. The present guidelines for the authors are prepared to help authors to format the paper in simple and easy way. The guidelines specify just basic recommendations and are prepared in the format recommended by these guidelines.

Keywords: guidelines, terminology, formatting, pictures, graphs, tables