SETI League Policy Manual
Guidelines for Submitting Papers to
SETI League Conference Proceedings
Members submitting camera-ready copy to The SETI League, Inc., for inclusion in Proceedings books for our various Conferences and Technical Symposia, should follow the guidelines below. Details regarding paper scope, length and content are Policies of The SETI League, Inc. Format items are Policies of the American Radio Relay League, Inc., (ARRL), who publishes Conference Proceedings for The SETI League and other organizations under a cooperative agreement.
- Topics: The SETI League, Inc. solicits for its Conference Proceedings technical papers dealing with any scientifically credible aspect of the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. The editors will accept for publication such papers as are, in their sole discretion, consistent with the vision and mission of The SETI League, Inc.
- Copyright: Authors retain exclusive copyright to their submitted manuscripts. Submission constitutes an authorization for publication by The SETI League, Inc. and the American Radio Relay League, on a non-exclusive basis. No compensation is offered for published manuscripts.
- Length: Papers will normally run no less than three, nor more than five single-spaced manuscript pages. Deviations from these guidelines will require prior approval from the editors.
- Excess Page Charges: To help defray additional printing costs, authors of papers exceeding the authorized length will be asked to contribute to The SETI League, Inc. an excess page charge of $10.00 US per manuscript page beyond five.
- Paper: Camera-ready copy should be submitted on white paper measuring 8½ by 11 inches.
- Margins: Top and sides should be 0.75 inches; bottom must be 1 inch.
- Type: You may use any font you'd like. The type should be clean and easy to read. The type face most popular among SETI League authors is 12-point Times New Roman.
- Layout: Either a one or two-column format is fine.
- Page numbers: Don't include them on the front of your paper. You may write the page number on the reverse side in light pencil. This is helpful especially in the case of very long papers.
- Drawings: Should be in black ink, dark pencil or computer generated. Please center them properly on each page. Place drawings where you'd like them to appear in the text, or leave a space for the drawing and mark the space and drawing. If placement is not indicated, photos will run after the text.
- Photos: Color or black-and-white prints. Leave a space for the photo and mark the space. Do not write directly on the back of the photo. Use a post-it or piece of paper, then attach it to the back of the photo to indicate placement. If placement is not indicated, photos will run after the text.
- Electronically: The SETI League will accept papers submitted on disk as Microsoft Word (.doc) or Portable Document Format (.pdf) files. Disks submitted by post should be accompanied by a hardcopy of the submission. Please do not submit files as email attachments without prior approval. The ARRL, which currently publishes our conference Proceedings, can accept papers electronically, though they prefer hard copy. (An electronic copy is great to have in case something happens to the original.)
- Colors: If you're including drawings and photos electronically in your paper, they should be black-and-white. Conference proceedings are printed in black and white. Do not expect a color graph, drawing or photo to print well.
- Printers: If at all possible, do not use a color printer. The ink has a tendency to smudge when "page numbering" and during the printing process. If you have to use a color printer, please include a note and we'll process the paper differently.
- Printing: We print what we receive. If your paper is not centered or has "copy" marks, that's the way it will appear in the proceedings. If it's over the margin dimensions, it will be photo reduced.
These Policies shall have the force and effect of Bylaws of The SETI League, Inc. They may be amended as necessary from time to time by the Board of Trustees. Amendments or revisions shall become effective as of the date of their posting to the World Wide Web site of The SETI League, Inc.
