These guidelines are for authors intending to submit a paper to the +Information Science Discussion Papers Series. While these +guidelines are not binding, it would be helpful if authors could adhere to +them as much as possible.
+ +The current coordinator of the series is Nigel Stanger. Please contact him if you have any +questions about these guidelines or the series as a whole.
+ + +The Discussion Paper Series is intended as a semi-formal +vehicle for staff in the department to publish research in a timely manner. +Papers typically reflect work in progress and may not include final +results. Many papers that appear in the series are early versions of papers +that are later published in conferences or journals. If you have recently +submitted a conference or journal paper, we encourage you to forward a copy +to the series coordinator +for inclusion in the series.
+ +The papers are sent to a selection of Information Systems departments at +several universities in New Zealand, Australia and Asia. Copies are also +archived in the Hocken Library, and where possible posted electronically on +the Department’s web site. Papers published in the series reflect the +research effort of the department, and due care should therefore be taken +in their production.
+ + +We do not enforce a particular style on authors; many of the papers +submitted to the series have also been submitted to conferences or +journals, and must therefore adhere to the style requirements of the +particular conference or journal. However, it would be helpful if authors +could adhere to some basic formatting guidelines wherever possible.
+ +Please use “standard” fonts such as Times/Times New +Roman, Palatino, Arial/Helvetica, Symbol (Symbol) and +LATEX’s Computer Modern, in the size range +10–12pt. Do not use non-standard fonts unless absolutely necessary, +as this may complicate the production process.
+ +Leave at least a 2.54cm (1 inch) margin around the body text, and ensure +that margins are suitable for double-sided printing.
+ +Include page numbers if possible, centered at the bottom of the page. +(It may be possible to add these later if you submit the original source +file(s) of your paper—see below.)
+ +Please check your paper for grammar, spelling, correct cross-references, +etc. If possible, get someone else to read the paper before submitting it. +Most papers are not checked before publication.
+ + +There are no length restrictions as such, but we would prefer papers to +be less than thirty pages in length, as larger papers are unwieldy to deal +with. Particularly large documents could possibly be published as a +departmental technical report instead.
+ + +You may submit papers in either hard copy or electronic form. We prefer +electronic form so that the papers can be downloaded from our web site. +Please email electronic submissions to the series coordinator. Hard copy +papers should be given directly to the coordinator (Nigel Stanger). If you +are submitting in electronic form, please use one of the following formats +(in descending order of preference):
+ +PDF is the most preferred format. However, there are some things you +need to be aware of when generating a PDF file. First, if your paper +contains bitmapped images, please disable +“Downsampling” of colour and grayscale images, as this can +render your images illegible. In Acrobat Distiller, these options can be +disabled in the “Compression” section of “Job +Options”. You do not need to disable downsampling of black and white +images, as these are downsampled to a much higher resolution of 300dpi.
+ +Second, if you use LATEX to produce your paper and +use the Computer Modern fonts, you must generate the PDF file using +PostScript versions of these fonts, or the PDF produced will be unreadable +on screen. This problem can be avoided by using one of the alternate font +packages, such as the times or palatino.
+ +If you are unsure about any of the above, please submit your original +document(s) instead.
+ + +If you produced your paper using LATEX, you are +welcome to submit the source (preferred) or the DVI file (or both).
+ + +If there is no other option, submit your original document(s) +in whatever format you produced them in. Currently we can handle MS Office, +WordPerfect and HTML documents. It may be possible to handle other formats, +but nothing is guaranteed.
+ +Note that original document formats can often require considerable +additional work in order to render them suitable for publication, which is +why this is the least preferred option. Word documents in particular seem +to cause all sorts of difficulties.
+ +