Guidelines for authors 
485 
Cite all software, special equipment, and chemical 
solutions used in the study within parentheses in the 
general text: e.g., SAS, vers. 6.03 (SAS Inst., Inc., Cary, 
NC). 
Footnotes are used for all documents that have not been 
formally peer reviewed and for observations and per- 
sonal communications. These types of references should 
be cited sparingly in manuscripts submitted to the 
journal. 
All reference documents, administrative reports, 
internal reports, progress reports, project reports, 
contract reports, personal observations, personal 
communications, unpublished data, manuscripts in re- 
view, and council meeting notes are footnoted in 9 pt 
font and placed at the bottom of the page on which they 
are first cited. Footnote format is the same as that for 
formal literature citations. A link to the online source 
(e.g., [http://www/ , accessed July 2007.]), or the 
mailing address of the agency or department holding 
the document, should be provided so that readers may 
obtain a copy of the document. 
Tables are often overused in scientific papers; it is sel- 
dom necessary 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 in- 
telligible on its own. 
All abbreviations and unusual symbols must be ex- 
plained in the table legend. Other incidental comments 
may be footnoted with italic numeral footnote markers. 
Use asterisks only to indicate significance 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. 
• Notate probability with a capital, italic P. 
• Provide a zero before all decimal points for values 
less than one (e.g., 0.07). 
• Round all values to 2 decimal points. 
• Use a comma in numbers of five digits or more (e.g., 
13,000 but 3000). 
Figures must be cited in numerical order in the text. 
Graphics should aid in the comprehension of the text, 
but they should be limited to presenting patterns rather 
than raw data. Figures should not exceed one figure for 
every four pages of text and must be labeled with the 
number of the figure. Place labels A, B, C, etc. within 
the upper left area of graphs and photos. Avoid placing 
labels vertically (except for the y axis). 
Figure legends should explain all symbols and abbre- 
viations seen in the figure and should be double-spaced 
on a separate page at the end of the manuscript. 
Line art and halftone figures should be submitted as 
pdf files with >800 dpi and >300 dpi, respectively. Color 
is allowed in figures to show morphological differences 
among species (for species identification), to show stain 
reactions, and to show gradations in temperature con- 
tours within maps. Color is discouraged in graphs, and 
for the few instances where color may be allowed, the 
use of color will be determined by the Managing Editor. 
Approved color figures should be submitted as EPS files 
in CMYK format. 
• Capitalize the first letter of the first word in all la- 
bels within figures. 
• Do not use overly large font sizes in maps and for 
units of measurements along axes in graphs. 
• Do not use bold fonts or bold lines in figures. 
« Do not place outline rules around graphs. 
• Place a North arrow and label degrees latitude and 
longitude (e.g., 170°E) in all maps. 
• Use symbols, shadings, or patterns (not clip art) in 
maps and graphs. 
Failure to follow these guidelines 
and failure to correspond with editors 
in a timely manner will delay 
publication of a manuscript. 
Copyright law does not apply to Fishery Bulletin , which 
falls within the public domain. However, if an author 
reproduces any part of an article from Fishery Bulle- 
tin, reference to source is considered correct form (e.g., 
Source: Fish. Bull. 97:105). 
Submission of manuscript 
Submit manuscript online at the ScholarOne website. 
Commerce Department authors should submit papers 
under a completed NOAA Form 25-700. For further de- 
tails on electronic submission, please contact the As- 
sociate Editor, Kathryn Dennis, at 
kathryn.dennis@noaa.gov 
When requested, the text and tables should be submit- 
ted in Word format. Figures should be sent as separate 
PDF files (preferred), TIFF files, or EPS files. Send a 
copy of figures in the original software if conversion to 
any of these formats yields a degraded version of the 
figure. 
Questions? If you have questions regarding these 
guidelines, please contact the Managing Editor, Sharyn 
Matriotti, at 
sharyn.matriotti@noaa.gov 
Questions regarding manuscripts under review should 
be addressed to Kathryn Dennis, Associate Editor. 
