Guide to Submitting Manuscripts for the 2025 Wild Trout XIV Symposium

Manuscripts are due by August 1st, 2025

Submissions

Manuscripts are due by August 1st, 2025, earlier submissions are appreciated.

All manuscripts must be postmarked or sent via email no later than August 1, 2025. Submit your manuscripts to:

Emma Lundberg
or
Rob Van Kirk
Email: Program@wildtroutsymposium.com

Regular Manuscripts

Regular manuscripts should not exceed ten (10) single-spaced pages, including figures and tables but not including references. Papers should be in typeface 11-point font in Times New Roman. Dynamic photos of your research and line illustrations are encouraged to improve the visual appeal of the proceedings.

Regular manuscripts should contain an Abstract of no more than 350 words in a similar format to the example paper.
Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgement, and Reference sections should contain the information outlined for those sections in the North American Journal of Fisheries Management Author Guidelines.

Tables, table captions, figures, figure captions, and mathematical and statistical expressions shoud be formatted as outlined in the North American Journal of Fisheries Management Author Guidelines.

Either English or metric units may be used as long as one set of units is used consistently.

Extended Abstracts

Extended abstracts may be submitted in place of regular manuscripts, though regular manuscripts are preferred. Extended abstracts may contain figures and tables, but do not contain labeled Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion sections. References can be included in the text and cited in a References section as in Regular Manuscripts. Extended Abstracts should not exceed four (4) single-spaced pages, including figures and tables but not including references.

Manuscript Assembly

Files need to be submitted in MS Word-compatible format. Embed fonts in your document if you have used Greek letters, special characters, superscripts, or subscripts in your paper. Submit text files formatted with figures and tables located in the correct position. Keep titles concise and descriptive: subheadings and bulleted material are useful and help readability. As a rule of clear writing, use the active voice. Provide spell-outs for abbreviations per the Guide for Authors.

Assemble and format submitted manuscripts as per the example symposium paper. However, please use a single column throughout the paper for submission purposes.

1. Title of manuscript (keep this concise and descriptive)
2. Authors: Include the authors name(s), working title(s), affiliation(s), and address(es) of the author(s), as well as telephone and e-mail information. Please indicate primary contact if different from lead author.
3. Abstract: include a 350-word abstract succinctly informing, rather than describing, the purpose, results, and conclusions.
4. Text: Number all pages and use 11-point Times New Roman font throughout the text. Paper size should be 8.5x11 inches with 1-inch margins on top, bottom, right, and left. For headings, try to use a maximum of three levels. Use only single spaces after periods and colons. Don't put an extra carriage return between paragraphs or between lines—except for special emphasis. Type headings in the following typographical style:
   

   Heading 1 (left aligned, small cap, Arial font, 12 point bold)

   Heading 2 (left aligned, indented .25 inches, initial cap, Arial font, 11 point bold)

   Heading 3 (left aligned, indented .50 inches, initial cap, Arial font 10, point bold)

   Normal text (left aligned, indented .50 inches, Times New Roman font, 11 point)
   

5. Figures: must be placed in the manuscript AND provide files in TIF, GIF, JPG, PNG, EMF format. Charts, maps, drawings, and photographs are considered figures. Number figures consecutively and refer to each in the text. Type figure captions below each figure and locate the figure as close on the page as possible to where it is mentioned in the text. Avoid putting footnotes in a figure; instead, include the information in the caption. To maintain readability, characters within figures should be at least 6-point type after the figure has been reduced. Use a sans serif typeface such as Arial.
6. Tables: Tables should be logical and understandable without reading the text. Use the table feature in Microsoft Word or Word Perfect. Number tables consecutively and refer to each in the text. The reader should understand tables without reference to the text; they should standalone. Put the table caption in the first row at the top of the table (merge cells to make it one row). For example: Table 1. Table captions should be Arial font, 9 pt, bold. Table footnotes should start with the superscript "1" and should appear below the table in Arial 8 pt italic. Locate the table as close on the page as possible to where it is mentioned in the text.
7. Acknowledgement: Place disclaimers and grant and contribution numbers in the acknowledgments. Acknowledge only people and institutions that contributed directly to the project, research, or the manuscript's quality.
8. Literature Cited: All literature used to prepare the paper should be acknowledged in the Literature Cited section, alphabetically by author. Publications by the same author should be listed chronologically according to the year of publication. Sequence: name of author, year of publication, title. Please do not use tabs or indents when you enter references. Refer to the AFS style guide for direction.

Authors' Responsibilities

As part of the planning for this symposium, we ask each author to assume full responsibility for submitting reviewed manuscripts in camera-ready format within tight deadlines. We feel quick publication of the proceedings is an essential part of the symposium concept. The views expressed in each paper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the sponsoring organizations. Trade names are used for the information and convenience of the reader and do not imply endorsement or preferential treatment by the sponsoring organizations and agencies.

Review Process

Like other scientific publications, Wild Trout Symposium publications adhere to certain standards regarding content, format, usage, and writing style, the purposes of which are to facilitate comprehension by readers and to present the author's research in an appropriately professional way. Please use the conventions outlined in the AFS Publications Style Guide.

The proceedings of this meeting will be edited but not peer-reviewed. Thus, any paper included in the Proceedings could be submitted to a refereed journal.

Release Authorization

Under United States Copyright Law, authors who are not U.S. Government employees may possess copyright interest in articles printed in U.S. Government publications. To enable them to disseminate in the Wild Trout Symposium Proceedings, we ask authors who are not U.S. Government employees sign and submit release form: Copyright Release Form

To reprint text, figures and/or photos borrowed from copyrighted publications, obtain permission from the publisher first. Submit the permission form with your manuscript: Copyright Permission Letter

Common Mistakes

Be sure your coauthors have read and participated in editing your document.

Be sure that every day slang is not carried over to your manuscript. For example, referring to an angler survey as a creel.

“We,” in your papers refers to the authors, not the author’s agency, and not the crew that did the work. If there is only one author, there is no “we.”

Often, manuscripts report on projects that are ongoing. However, the report is on what was done – past tense.

Citation programs sometimes scramble citations. Please thoroughly review your citations to ensure that they conform to the format given in the AFS Publications Style Guide.

Capitalize all portions of the common names of fish species and subspecies but not those of hybrids and life history variants:
Largemouth Bass, Lahontan Cutthroat Trout
but saugeye, steelhead

Capitalize the names of families, orders, classes, phyla, and kingdoms and the first component of species names:
Salmonidae but salmonids
Salmoniformes

Give the accepted common and scientific names the first time that a species is mentioned in the abstract and text and use only the entire common name thereafter. The format for the first mention is as follows: Gizzard Shad Dorosoma cepedianum (note the absence of parentheses around the scientific name). There are exceptions to this practice, depending on the particular species in question, the authority for the names, and the frequency with which the names are used. Most common names of fishes are now capitalized

Capitalize

• the common names of all fish species, including those not in Common and Scientific Names and other AFS taxonomic publications
• the common names of subspecies (e.g., Lahontan Cutthroat Trout

Do not capitalize

• the names of life history variants (e.g., steelhead) and hybrids (e.g., tiger trout)
• the common names of nonfish species
• common names that refer to groups of related species (e.g., Pacific salmons, darters)
• the common portions of names shared by two or more species when they are mentioned as a group (e.g., Gizzard and Threadfin shads)

Common names that appear in references should be capitalized if they meet the current criteria for capitalization—even if they were not capitalized in the original publication.

As a rule, do not introduce an abbreviation or acronym unless it is used at least three times, and spell it out at first use:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). . . .
Exceptions to the rule about spelling out at first use are abbreviations and acronyms that:

• are listed as standard abbreviations and acronyms in an AFS journal or book
• have entries in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (e.g., DNA)
• have entries in the Merck Index (Merck & Co., Rahway, New Jersey)

Once an abbreviation or acronym has been introduced, it should be used in lieu of the full term except when the term occurs at the beginning of a sentence.

Additional Information

For additional information on editing and formatting contact Jim Gregory, (208)390-5306, gregory_jim@yahoo.com.