Quick Menu SfAA Home HO Home HO Online Back Issues HO Board Author Information Editor Comments Reviewer Information Reviewer Thanks SfAA Membership HO Rates SfAA Publications

---

Comments from the Editor
Text, Tables, and Graphics

---

See also, Information for Authors

From, the Society for Applied Anthropology Newsletter
Vol, 11, No. 3
REPORT FROM THE HO EDITOR

By Laura Kriegstrom Stull
<lstull@ukans.edu>
Design Editor, HO

Preparing the text, tables, and graphics for publication in Human Organization can be made easier for authors and editors alike if all parties involved speak the same "graphic" language. In addition to the rules and guidelines for manuscript submission (see HO 58:349-50, Summer 1999, or Website), authors need to follow the instructions below when submitting tables, figures, maps, and graphs submitting tables, figures, maps, and graphs.

Tables and Text in General

• Use keystrokes on the keyboard, NOT CODES, for symbols. For example, use quotation marks (" ") and two hyphens for an em-dash
  (--) from the keyboard instead of typographic or numeric codes from the menu. If you use codes your keystrokes can change when we convert your text from one program to another during journal production.
• Use codes if, and only if, there is no other option, such as for scientific notation or diacritics.

Tables

• Prepare tables separately, not in the body of the document, but be sure to indicate where the tables should go in
  the text ("Figure 1 about here").
• Creating tables with cells is acceptable but it's often just as easy to create them with tabs. And use tabs--not
  spaces--for the interval between columns.
• If your table won't fit, try using a smaller font, or change the page to landscape for that table.
  

Figures (maps, graphs, and figures)

• Like tables, figures should always be created as separate documents.
• To keep the integrity of figures, authors should provide files that will not change. After a figure is completed, either "save as" or "export" it as an .EPS file (encapsulated postscript file). Also, if using text within an .EPS graphic, make sure the text font is either Helvetica or Times. If for some reason exporting to an .EPS file is not possible, then save your graphic as a .TIF file. Please provide these kinds of files in addition to your original drawing file.
• Figures must be clear and crisp. Do not send bitmap files -- they often are fuzzy or jagged when reproduced.
• Do not send .PS files (regular postscript) of any documents or graphics. They cannot be read or imported.
• Provide first-generation figures. Just because you can take a figure from another source and plop it into PowerPoint does not mean it will reproduce well in a publication.
  

Type, etc.

• DO NOT put titles, sources and footnotes on the elecironic copy of your figures (NO map titles inside the neatline, please.). Provide them in a separate file, but write the figure numbers on the hard copy.
• The production editor will do titles, notes, and sources for the figures in the HO style.
• Be consistent in your use of type. Do not use bold type in one of your graphs and roman (which is considered a regular font, not bold and not italic) in another.
• When you prepare simple graphs use just 1 typeface--Helvetica.
• Use different sizes to denote levels of importance. But do not use type that is either very big or very small.
• With maps and figures it is often better to use 2 type faces -- a serif, Times, and a sans, Helvetica -- to show different kinds of elements. Bold and italicize to give you more options. But again, be consistent.
• Visualize the final image and size, and keep the type size proportional to the figure.
• A fairly simple graph or figure will be reduced to fit in one column, so make your type is big enough to read at that size.
• A complex map will be a full-page width, so do not copy. Grey tones and patterns need to be visible and distinct.
• Keep E.B. White's dictum always in mind: "Simplify, simplify." Keep graphs, maps, and figures a simple as possible. Ask someone to read your article and look at the graphics to make sure they are understandable and complementary to the text. Remember, journal space is at a premium, and graphics should be included only if they enhance thetext.

Following these instructions will provide a common graphic language for the author, the editor, and production editor, whose job it is to do the layout of the article in the journal. If the author provides what the editor requires and the production editor can use, then the final product will be to everyone's liking.