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CERF's Up! Quarterly Bulletin Contribution Information

Consider submitting to CERF’s Up!

CERF’s Up! is a full color, magazine-style publication released in print and digital formats distributed to CERF members and posted on the CERF website. We’re looking for material that helps keep the coastal research community informed with fresh perspectives, news, and information relevant to CERF's diverse membership. We're looking for contributions related to:

  • The state of coastal science
  • Ongoing research projects
  • New methods
  • Results from recent workshops and meetings
  • Viewpoint pieces
  • Book reviews
  • New policy or management approaches
  • Interactions between coastal research, politics, and community
  • Spotlights of outstanding work being done by colleagues
  • Professional advice/guidance for students and early career professionals
  • Successes and challenges you are facing in your profession
  • Behind-the-scenes coverage of research projects and publications
  • News from volunteer, citizen science, non-profit groups adding to coastal research and conversations
  • Communicating science
  • Photos from the field and laboratory
  • Diagrams, illustrations, tables, lists, maps, poetry, art, cartoons
  • More!

Why contribute?

CERF's Up! is a unique, high-visibility platform, offering a flexible format that accommodates traditional articles as well as pieces that incorporate two-page spreads, annotated maps, collages, lists, flowcharts, diagrams and other communication methods. 

CERF’s Up! is different because it:

  • Reaches a wide audience and can easily be referenced
  • Welcomes science “stories,” perspectives, and news
  • Has a quick turnaround: the time from submission to print can be shorter than three months
  • Has no set format for submissions: contributors can uniquely mix text, pictures and art
  • Allows for longer contributions: articles can span multiple pages allowing for more intricate pieces
  • Is currently expanding content. Help set the tone!

Interested? Send ideas or material to [email protected]

Submit Content for CERF's Up!

Author Guidelines

Types of Manuscripts

Articles: Articles should be of broad interest to the wide diversity of CERF members. The writing should be engaging, written in more of a newspaper or magazine style than a scientific article. Up to 800 words. One to three photographs, illustrations, or diagrams help communicate your story. Occasionally, longer pieces up to 2,000 words will be featured. Contact the editors at [email protected] if you are considering a longer piece.

Viewpoint: These are first person accounts, opinion pieces, or calls to the community about an estuarine science issue. All should adhere to the CERF mission and Code of Ethics, and regulations related to CERF’s 501(c)3 tax-exempt status. Up to 600 words.

Meeting and Workshop Outcomes and Summaries: Include news about recent meetings and workshops concerning estuarine science, policy, and management that are of broad interest to CERF members. Up to 600 words.

Book Reviews: Books reviewed are recent titles in estuarine and coastal science, policy, and management. If you would like to review a book, please contact the editors at [email protected]. Up to 600 words.

Laboratories and Field Stations: Can range from descriptions of facilities to news and ongoing developments to summaries of annual reports. Up to 500 words.

Communicating Science: All article types welcomed about science communication and public engagement. Up to 500 words.

Format

See previous issues of the bulletin to see how it should be formatted.

State in your submission the type of manuscript you are submitting. Include full names and affiliations including city, state, and country of all authors. Include email of first author.

Manuscript text is Microsoft Word format (.doc, .docx), double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12-pt font, left-justified. Leave one inch margins.

References: The citation-sequence system is used for references. Use superscripted numbers within the text to refer to the end references. Number the references and order them within the end list in the sequence in which they first appear within the text. References in the end list follow the format style of Estuaries and Coasts.

For example, in-text reference:
Juvenile nekton experience habitat use is affected by ecotone effects.1

In the list of end references:
1. Baillie, C.J., J.M. Fear, and F.J. Fodrie. 2015. Ecotone effects on seagrass and saltmarsh habitat use by juvenile nekton in a temperate estuary. Estuaries and Coasts 38 (5): 1414–1430.

In References for articles, if there were 3 or fewer authors, list them all. If more than 3, list first 3 and then et. al. for the rest.

Try to limit references to 15 or fewer.

Send each table, figure, photograph, illustration, diagram, or art as a separate file. Images must be submitted in 300 dpi or higher, and may be submitted as .pdf, .png, .jpeg, or any vector file type. Include copyright permission if applicable. Name files with LastName-FigX.filetype (e.g. Doe-Fig1.docx) and photos with LastName-PhotoX.filetype.

Include figure and photo captions at the end of your manuscript. At the end of each caption, give the names or organizations the photo or figure should be attributed to.

Style Reference Manuals

Council of Science Editors’ Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, 8th edition, 2014

The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, 2017

Miscellaneous Style Rules

Species names are in italics. In species names, “sp.” and “spp.” are not italicized.

The genus of names used later can be shortened to the first initial, if there is no potential for misunderstanding (e.g., Crassostrea virginica on first mention but C. virginica in later mention).

Common names are given in lower case, unless it contains a proper noun (e.g., hermit crab, American lobster).

In running text, the names of states are spelled out. E.g., Alaska, not the postal code AK.

When presenting a range of numbers, dates, etc., use en-dashes (with no spaces) rather than hyphens. This includes the page numbers in references .

Use single spaces between sentences.

Use a serial comma before the word “and” in a list of three or more items—e.g., item 1, item 2, and item 3.

Spell out single-digit numbers.

Use metric units (with English units in parentheses when necessary).

Define acronyms and abbreviations at first usage (but only if used again).

All dates should be given in the DD Month YYYY format with no comma—e.g., 24 August 1988.

Contact Information

Please send all submissions or questions to [email protected].

Kyle A. Capistrant-Fossa, Co-Editor
Julie Walker, Co-Editor