asapm Publishing Process
By Rose Johnston, ContentMatters®

1. Proposing An Article (preceding section)
2. Writing Your Article: Authoring Resources, this page
3. Editing Checklist for Articles
4. Ready, Aim, Publish: Naming and Sending Files

2. Writing Your Article: Authoring Resources

a. Writing Your Article

Congratulations, in this step your proposal for an article is accepted and now you can be published on the asapm web site!

That means that, in addition to providing great content, you’ll need to follow some authoring guidelines that will make it easier for your readers to access, view, and print your article from the web.  By following these guidelines, your article will also be published faster because you caught the editorial defects before we did.

This table lists the different ways we’ve provided to help you learn about and follow the authoring guidelines.

b. Authoring Guidelines: The Details

The purpose of this section is to explain the details of the authoring guidelines for articles that will be posted on the asapm web site. You’ll want to read it if you are new to writing articles, or you haven’t done it in a while. Your goal is to correct any editorial defects that would delay the publishing of your article.

Article Length Guidelines

You can send us an article of any length, but we generally encourage short articles that are 3-5 printed pages or 1,500 words in length. Example:  This section is 6 printed pages and approximately 1800 words.

There may, of course, be exceptions to this guideline, particularly if your article is a white paper or deals with research. Regardless of length, we have discretion in deciding whether to condense or expand an article, in which case we will return the article to you with suggestions.

In any case, here’s a BFO (a blinding flash of the obvious): writing style has a significant effect on article length!  So one way to contain your article length is to heed our style guidelines.

Writing Style Guidelines

The overarching goal of your article is to inform, and writing style can either help or hinder that goal. Your article is more likely to succeed with readers when your article:

• Can be understood by international audiences
• Uses specific headings (one word is often insufficient; three to five words may be necessary)
• Uses short sentences and paragraphs for body text
• "Speaks" in active voice (Active: Kris hit the ball. Passive: The ball was hit by Kris.)
• Has correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation
• Uses manageably-sized lists, tables, and graphics to preview, summarize, and clarify prose
• Avoids jargon and acronyms or explains them

Naming and Formatting Files

Though file names and formats won’t affect the length and writing style of your article, they will affect how easy it is for us to publish your article on the web, and for your readers to access and appreciate your content.

So when you are ready to send your article, be sure that your files are named and formatted so that they are web-friendly or so that we can easily convert them.

Naming Files: Name your files with the following convention: First 3 digits are your initials; next 2 digits are sequence numbers for text and for graphics files. If your operating system permits it, add enough information following those first 5 digits so the purpose of the file is apparent.

File Formats:  In addition to embedding figures in your article, we request that you also send a separate electronic file for each figure in case we need to edit or compress the original image. The acceptable file formats for text and figures are shown in this table: 

Structuring and Formatting Your Article

When writing your article, follow our guidelines (provided for your convenience in our templates) for structuring and formatting these elements:

• File Front Matter
• Title of the Article
• Abstract and/or Introduction, if any
• Headings and Paragraphs
• Tables and Figures
• Credits and Acknowledgements, if any
• Citations and Bibliographies, if any
• Author Biography

The remainder of this discussion provides the details about formatting and structuring each of the above elements.

File Front Matter Guidelines
Begin the first page of the file with information we can use to identify your article (especially crucial when we have to locate it among many other articles on our desk or server). Your file front matter is the equivalent of a cover letter and includes the following information:

1. The date the article was created
2. The title of the article
3. If a re-print or excerpt, the names and dates of the publications in which the article appeared
4. The names of the authors
5. The email address and phone number for the single-point-of-contact
6. The original or revised proposal that was the basis for acceptance of your article
7. A list or table that names and describes the files that make up the article

Titling Guidelines
Begin your article on the second page of your file. Create the title in a large, bold font or in all capital letters and center it on the page.

Abstract and Introduction Guidelines
If your article needs an abstract and/or introduction, use up to 150 words and follow these guidelines:

For an Abstract:  State the major points of the article and your summary or conclusions.

For an Introduction: 
State the intended audience, the article’s thesis, and why readers will find it interesting (gee, you could probably get some of this content from that proposal you sent us …).

Aren’t sure if your article needs an abstract or introduction?  Then use this table to decide.

Headings and Paragraphs Guidelines
Use up to three heading levels for your article. Format headings and paragraphs so that the hierarchical structure of your article is clear.

If your article has two or more heading ones and will print as two or more pages, then include a topical preview (a list of the heading-one topics).

The next table further describes the guidelines for formatting headings and paragraphs, including placement, capitalization, and the use of fonts.

By following the guidelines, you will make it easier for us to identify and retain the hierarchical structure of your article regardless of its file format or any conversions we make before we publish it. It will also reduce errors when we replace your formatting with our styles.

Tables and Figures Guidelines
Position tables and figures adjacent (above, below, or next) to the relevant prose.

Immediately before or after each table or figure, write one or more complete sentences to help readers understand its relationship to the prose, by answering questions such as these:

• What is the relationship of the table or figure to the discussion?
• Should readers focus on any particular aspects of the table or figure?

Write and number captions for figures, which could be used as alternative text when readers have their graphics turned off. Number the captions in the order they appear in the article. Note that captions are not a substitute for the sentence(s) that describe tables or figures.

Credits and Acknowledgements Guidelines

If you want to include a statement of appreciation to others for their help with your article, put it at the end of the article. Keep it short and specific (no Oscar Movie Award speeches).

Citation and Bibliography Guidelines

You are responsible for deciding whether you should add citations within text and a bibliography at the end of your article. To decide when citations and/or a bibliography is warranted, here are some questions you should consider:

• Have you explicitly or implicitly made substantial use of someone else’s works or ideas?
• Are there facts or claims in your article that readers might question?
• Is it common practice to acknowledge sources in the type of article you are writing?
• Are there sources you’ve used that readers will want to investigate on their own?

Citations in Text: If a citation is warranted, then you also need to decide how formally to write it within text. An informal citation might be written as “Cole used experiments to validate her theory that every project manager is a latent control freak.” 

For formal citations, do not use footnotes, instead, use an author-date format, such as “The project manager control-freak theory was validated with experiments (Cole 2000).”

Bibliographies: If you decide your article needs one for whatever reason, then include a bibliography at the end of the article (after any credits and before the author biography) in a section titled “References.”

Be sure your references are accurate and conform to a generally accepted format for the type of reference it is, (for example, book, journal, speech, email, web, or something else).

Author Biography Guidelines

At the end of your article, include an author biography titled “About the Author(s).” Write a short biography (up to 50 words) for each author. Include professional experience, education, professional affiliations, and anything else you want readers to know. You may also want to include a digital photo, as well as contact information where readers can send feedback to you.

2c. Article Copyright And Republication

The American Society for the Advancement of Project Management (asapm®) desires joint copyright on all articles it publishes and grants republication rights to authors. If your article has been previously published or presented, you must inform us when you submit your proposal for it. Some publishers restrict your rights to republish your materials.

Some other organizations require you give up your rights when you publish. We have a more flexible Intellectual Property (IP) Policy, with stages of ownership for those who desire them. See our IP policy, with appropriate forms, at this link.

Anyone may link to material at the asapm web site without prior permission. This includes emailing a link or presenting a link at another web site; this does not, however, include methods such as framing our material within another web site. If you want to deliver, present, or archive material in any manner other than a link to the association’s web site, you must ask for and receive written permission.

Authors can exercise their republication rights beginning ninety days after the association publishes an article, and by doing the following:

• Notify asapm in writing that your article has been accepted for another venue, and
• Ensure that the republication venue cites asapm as the original publication source.
• To accommodate the republication process, authors or their republication venues may request an electronic copy (where available) of the published article.

If you are uncertain whether your situation is addressed in this copyright notice, then contact us and (as Joan Rivers would say), “Let’s talk!”

To Continue to the next section:

3. Editing Checklist for Articles