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Top Tips for Authors: How to Nail the

Initial Quality Check and Ensure Your

Paper Gets to the Editor Faster

Once you’ve submitted your paper to a GSA publication, it will Manuscript Text File
go through an initial quality check before it is sent to the editor. F Include title, author list, affiliation list,
If it doesn’t pass, the paper will be returned to you to fix. You abstract, references cited, and figure
can save yourself the extra step and get your paper to the editor captions.
without delay by making sure your submission ticks these boxes F Check that references are in Harvard style
first. (Your manuscript will be considered officially submitted (in-text citations and a corresponding
only after it has passed the quality check.) You can also visit the references cited section organized
publication’s author information page for specific requirements: alphabetically by author last name).
https://www.geosociety.org/AuthorInfo. F Include figure captions at the end of the
manuscript text file.
Cover Letter F Double-space the manuscript and format it
F Include an explanation of how your with continuous line numbers.
paper is innovative, provocative, of F Submit the manuscript as a Microsoft Word file.
timely significance, and of broad
interest, either within a discipline Figure(s)
and/or across disciplines. F Upload figures as separate files (not included in the body of
F If more than five authors are listed as the manuscript Word file).
co-authors on your paper, include a F Submit each figure as a JPG, TIFF, or PDF. (PDF files are
statement on the respective roles of preferred at this stage.)
each author.
F List any papers on related topics by any of the authors that Table(s)
have been published within the past year or that are in review F Include table title and footnotes as
S I S N 0 0 9 6 7 - 1 1 3 J U N 2 E 2 0 1 VOL. 49 NO. 6 P. 609–752
or in press. part of the table itself.
F Although not required, it is useful to include a list of F Submit each table as an Excel or Word
suggested reviewers with contact information. document file.

Review the complete list of cover letter guidelines at https:// Email editing@geosociety.org with
www.geosociety.org/documents/gsa/pubs/CoverLetter.pdf. questions. We look forward to receiving
your submission!

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