Journal of Air and Waste Management Association

EM seeks to provide timely, readable, useful, and accurate articles regarding key issues affecting environmental professionals in industry, government, consulting, and academia. Articles can be news-oriented or opinion/editorial-oriented; however, opinion/editorial pieces must be clearly identified as such, and both types of articles need to reflect an adequate degree of professional knowledge and professional style of communication. EM is one of two publications published by A&WMA; the other, the Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, is a technical journal that undergoes a more rigorous scientific peer-review process and has a different set of manuscript preparation and submission guidelines. However, technical information is not excluded from EM; for example, a summary of existing technical information that is useful to decision-makers would be welcome.

Each issue of EM has a theme that is the focus of one or more of the articles. A&WMA is always in need of issue "Champions, " who identify topics for papers that address the theme, solicit authors, and work with A&WMA staff and the authors to get the papers completed and reviewed in time for publication. Anyone interested in "Championing" an issue should e-mail the following to the Managing Editor (Lisa Bucher, lbucher@awma.org):

1. A clearly identified theme.
2. The key topics within that theme that the articles would address.
3. A list of key authors that might be solicited.
4. The names of potential expert reviewers.

The themes for a given calendar year are finalized by EM's Editorial Advisory Committee (EAC) before August of the preceding calendar year (exceptions are made to capture late-breaking topics).

Articles can be submitted either as e-mail attachment or on disk, preferably in Microsoft Word (6.0 or later). WordPerfect is also acceptable. A PDF may be submitted for review purposes only. Authors must provide an electronic copy once an article has been accepted for publication.

Phone, fax, and e-mail contact information for the corresponding author must be provided, so that we can contact him or her should questions arise concerning the article. Authors will be e-mailed a .pdf of the page proofs of their articles to review before publication and asked to complete and return a "permission to print" form that gives A&WMA permission to publish their work in the magazine and on the A&WMA Web site (www.awma.org).

Unless specifically approved by the Managing Editor, articles must be limited to no more than 1500 words. The opening of the article should identify to readers not familiar with the subject area why they should care about the article, and clearly identify what the reader should expect to get out of the article (e.g., new news, relatively detailed information for those familiar with the topic, or a high-level summary of information for those relatively unfamiliar with the topic). In most cases, effort should be made to provide context for numerical data. Sensationalism should be avoided.

The wording of articles must be geared toward an audience of environmental professionals with a wide variety of backgrounds, not just specialists in a specific area. Also, authors from outside the United States are encouraged to propose articles on topics of interest in their countries. Because there are many non-U.S. readers, the prefix "U.S." should be used in conjunction with references to "The Clean Air Act, " "Supreme Court, " and "federal" laws or regulations. Case study articles are welcome, as long as the authors identify general lessons that readers can take away from them. Commercialism or self-promotion of a company or product must be avoided.

Articles should be no more than 1500 words in length and contain the following elements:

• A concise, descriptive title.
• A byline with the names of all authors in the order in which they are to appear in print.
• Tables, figures, illustrations, or photos that would enhance or supplement the discussion are strongly encouraged. More information on these guidelines follows.
• A brief "about the authors" statement, providing the name, title, affiliation, and complete mailing and e-mail addresses and phone number for each author.
• One-and-one-half-space text, using 12-point Times New Roman typeface. Do not include any complex formatting, headers, or footers.

• Divide text into major sections (e.g., Background, Discussion, Conclusions) to improve readability.
• First-level headings are bold, in all capital letters, and flush left.
• Second-level headings are bold, in initial capital letters, and centered.
• Third-level heading are bold, initial capital letters, and flush left; this heading should be followed by a period, two spaces, and the subsequent text.