The World Wide Web opens new possibilities for publishing Sea Grant works. Not only can we publish electronic versions of existing, paper publications, but we are able to publish "Web only" versions of certain types of publications. The National Sea Grant Library is ready to accept, and give you credit for, publications which appear only on the Web.
You'll find general Sea Grant publishing guidelines - for print and the Web - in Publishing Sea Grant-Sponsored Work: Things You Ought to Know ([.pdf] [HTML] ). Here are some answers to specific questions. If you have, please contact Pat Kight at sea.grant.web@oregonstate.edu
Q. What editorial standards apply to electronic works?
A. We hold Web publications to the same high standards as all Sea Grant-published work, including:
Pre-planning with the Sea Grant Communications staff. Although Web documents can be published fairly quickly, we still need to know your plans as early as possible so we can manage our work load. Please use the Communications Support Request Form indicating that you are interested in publishing on the Web.
Contents should be reviewed for scientific and technical accuracy, as appropriate. It is your job to have your work reviewed by an appropriate number of people with expertise in the subject area before you bring it to us for publication
Copy editing and proofreading. We will have your work professionally edited. Web publications should be free of typos, grammar errors, and other inaccuracies, just as paper publications are expected to be.
Proper credit should be given to all sources, including funding sources. Please pay special attention to the question of graphics; unless you are certain the graphics you want to use are in the public domain, you must obtain permission from the creator (or rights holder) to use them.
When a Web publication is a version of an existing paper publication, the two documents must be identical in content. In order to be considered an official Oregon Sea Grant publication, and to receive an ORESU number from the National Depository, the document should "live" on our site so we have control over its revision and updating. Exceptions may be made for publications developed for other sites( i.e., SeafoodNIC), but we will still expect editorial review before we issue an ORESU number. We will be glad to provide links from our Web site to those pages.
For additional information, please read Publishing Sea Grant Sponsored Work, by SG Communications managing editor (emeritus) Sandy Ridlington
Q. How should I prepare my electronic manuscript?
A. Please:
- Provide a final, reviewed version of your publication to the Sea Grant Communications office
- On CD or by e-mail
- In plain text format. All popular word-processing programs permit you to save your files as plain text. Doing so will save us time converting your publication for Web use. If formatting is critical to your content, you may submit MS Word documents. We do not accept Excel, PowerPoint, MS Publisher or Front Page documents without prior consultation.
- If you wish to create your own HTML or .pdf documents, please contact the Webmaster for guidelines first. Sea Grant's Web sites are built to specific standards for code and accessibility, and new content needs to meet those standards.
- If you include illustrations, please provide them to us in .jpg or .gif format. We would prefer to receive fairly high-resolution files, which we will then optimize for Web use. As a rule, the .jpg format is best for photographs, and the .gif format for graphic art with straight lines and broad color areas.
- If your publication includes scientific formulae or other special text which does not easily convert to HTML,, or if graphics and layout are critical to the information you are trying to convey, talk to us about other options.
Don't forget to include:
- Department or institutional affiliation (credentials) of all authors and contributors.
- The Sea Grant number under which the work was produced.
- Credit to other funding sources.
- Bibliographic information, as appropriate.
- Sources (including Web sites) for further information
- Your e-mail address. We will include the author's e-mail address with each publication, where possible, so readers can contact you for more information.
Q. How will Sea Grant distribute these works?
As a matter of routine, we will
- Assign each digital publication a Sea Grant publication number
- Provide a copy, electronically or by printout, to the National Sea Grant Library archives.
- Notify the Sea Grant "family" that the publication exists and encourage them to make printouts available for those unable to access the Web.
- Send an announcement to our general abstract mailing list
- List the title in our online and print publication directories.
- Link the publication to the appropriate staff or subject-matter pages on our site.
- Where appropriate, issue a news release once the publication is on line.
You may also wish to announce the publication to appropriate e-mail lists, client groups, researchers, etc.
Clients who do not have Web access will be able to request printouts of the publication from our office and from Sea Grant Extension offices which are equipped to print from the Web.
Q. How will these works be kept up to date?
Contact the Webmaster about making necessary revisions. We will list such publications as revised (with the month and year of revision) and provide the National Depository with updated editions as necessary.
You should also contact us immediately if any publication has served its purpose or grown outdated and should be removed from the Web.
Approximately once a year, the Sea Grant Webmaster will ask you to review your own electronic publications to determine if they:
- Need revision
- Are fine as is
- Have served their useful life and should be taken off line.
Your cooperation is essential in keeping our Web site up to date.
Q. My graduate assistant has produced a Web site as part of his/her thesis. Will Sea Grant put it on line?
A. Generally speaking, no. Just as we do not publish theses, we do not have the resources to maintain and update Web sites prepared by others. The Sea Grant Webmaster would be glad to talk to you about student-produced sites, and may be able to suggest options for putting them on line.
Q. My grant application promised a Web site as part of our outreach requirement. Will you build and maintain it for me?
A. Not unless you arranged that with us in advance. Before including a Web component in a grant application, be sure you have the resources to build it and put it on line. While we are glad to add material to the Sea Grant site when it is central to the program's mission and goals - and glad to link to researchers' own sites - we generally do not have the resources to build and maintain your site for you.
Q. I'm a Sea Grant faculty member and I'd like to have my own site to promote my projects and my CV. Will you build it for me? Can I put it on the Sea Grant server?
A. No, but we can point you to resources that will let you do it yourself (or hire someone to do it for you), including your academic home department and the OSU ONID system, which provides free Web space to all university faculty, staff and students. Again, we'd be glad to link to it when it's ready.
While these guidelines apply chiefly to single publications, we also encourage faculty and staff to consider ways they might use the Web to further their research, outreach and education aims. If you have an idea for a Sea Grant-related Web project, please contact us for advice about the best way to achieve your goal, whether it's a single Web page or an entire site.
For information about other options for Web publishing at OSU, please visit:
- ONID (faculty, staff and student personal sites)
- OSU Central Web Services (departmental and organizational site and Web development services.