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Fishery Bulletin 
Guidelines for authors 
Manuscript Preparation 
Contributions published in Fishery Bulletin describe 
original research in marine fishery science, fishery 
engineering and economics, as well as the areas of 
marine environmental and ecological sciences (including 
modeling). Preference will be given to manuscripts that 
examine processes and underlying patterns. Descriptive 
reports, surveys, and observational papers may occa- 
sionally be published but should appeal to an audience 
outside the locale in which the study was conducted. 
Although all contributions are subject to peer review, 
responsibility for the contents of papers rests upon the 
authors and not on the editor or publisher. Submission 
of an article implies that the a rticle is origin al and is not 
being considered for publication elsewhere. Articles may 
range from relatively short contributions (10-15 typed, 
double-spaced pages, tables and figures not included) 
to extensive contributions (20-30 typed pages). Manu- 
scripts must be written in English; authors whose native 
language is not English are strongly advised to have 
their manuscripts checked by English-speaking col- 
leagues before submission. 
Title page should include authors’ full names and 
mailing addresses and the senior author’s telephone, 
fax number, and e-mail address, and a list of key words 
to describe the contents of the manuscript. Abstract 
should be limited to 200 words (one-half typed page), 
state the main scope of the research, and emphasize 
the author’s conclusions and relevant findings. Do not 
review the methods of the study or list the contents of 
the paper. Because abstracts are circulated by abstract- 
ing agencies, it is important that they represent the 
research clearly and concisely. Text must be typed in 
12 point Times New Roman font throughout. A brief 
introduction should convey the broad significance of 
the paper; the remainder of the paper should be divided 
into the following sections: Materials and methods, 
Results, Discussion (or Conclusions), and Acknowl- 
edgments. Headings within each section must be short, 
reflect a logical sequence, and follow the rules of multi- 
ple subdivision (i.e. , there can be no subdivision without 
at least two items). The entire text should be intelligible 
to interdisciplinary readers; therefore, all acronyms, 
abbreviations, and technical terms should be written 
out in full the first time they are mentioned. Include 
FAO common names for species in the list of keywords 
and in the introduction. Regional common names may 
be used throughout the rest of the text if they are dif- 
ferent from FAO common names which can be found at 
http://www.fishbase.org/search.html. Follow the U.S. 
Government Printing Office Style Manual (2000 ed.) 
and Scientific Style and Format: the CSE Manual for 
Authors, Editors, and Publishers (7 th ed.) for editorial 
style; for fish nomenclature follow the most current 
issue of the American Fisheries Society’s Common and 
Scientific Names of Fishes from the United States, 
Canada, and Mexico, 6 th ed. Dates should be written 
as follows: 11 November 2000. Measurements should 
be expressed in metric units, e.g., 58 metric tons (t); if 
other units of measurement are used, please make this 
fact explicit to the reader. Write out the numbers zero 
through nine unless they form part of measurement 
units (e.g., nine fish but 9 mm). Refrain from using 
the shorthand slash (/), an ambiguous symbol, in the 
general text 
Literature cited comprises published works and 
those accepted for publication in peer-reviewed literature 
(in press). Follow the name and year system for citation 
format in the “Literature cited” section (that is say, 
citations should be listed alphabetically by the authors’ 
last names, and then by year if there is more than one 
citation with the same authorship). If there is a sequence 
of citations in the text, list chronologically: (Smith, 
1932; Green, 1947; Smith and Jones, 1985). Abbrevia- 
tions of serials should conform to abbreviations given in 
the Serial Sources for the BIOSIS Previews Database. 
Authors are responsible for the accuracy and complete- 
ness of all citations. Literature citation format: Author 
(last name, followed by first-name initials). Year. Title 
of report or manuscript. Abbreviated title of the series 
to which it belongs. Always include number of pages. 
Cite all software and special equipment or chemical 
solutions used in the study, not in a footnote but within 
parentheses in the text (e.g., SAS, vers. 6.03, SAS Inst., 
Inc., Cary, NC). 
Tables are often overused in scientific papers; it 
is seldom necessary or even desirable to present all 
the data associated with a study. Tables should not 
be excessive in size and must be cited in numerical 
order in the text. Headings should be short but ample 
enough to allow the table to be intelligible on its own. 
All unusual symbols must be explained in the table 
legend. Other incidental comments may be footnoted 
with italic numeral footnote markers. Use asterisks to 
indicate probability in statistical data. Do not type table 
legends on a separate page; place them above the table 
data. Do not submit tables in photo mode. 
• Zeros should precede all decimal points for values 
less than one. 
• Sample size, n, should be italicized. 
• Capitalize the first letter of the first word in all labels 
within figures. 
• Do not use overly large font sizes in maps and for units 
of measurements along axes in figures. 
• Do not use bold fonts or bold lines in figures. 
• Do not place outline rules around graphs. 
• Do not use horizontal lines through graphs to indicate 
measurement units. 
