U.S. Geological Survey.

West Trenton Publishing Service Center

Publishing Process

Services include information product-planning and consultation, publication-policy advising, technical text editing, graphics support, product layout, GPO printing liaison, online and print release of all USGS series reports and customized support for abstracts, posters, journal articles, books, presentation materials, handouts, Web pages, internal documents, and outreach materials.

Technical Editing Services Technical Illustration Services Production Services
Editing services include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Edit for organization, incomplete presentation, and inconsistent statements. Review of figures and tables for size, logical arrangement, effective presentation, and reproducibility
  • Edit sentence structure and paragraphs to improve clarity; edit for all grammar, syntax, punctuation, word division, capitalization, signs and symbols, spelling, abbreviations, and units of measurement
  • Verification review to insure consistency amongst text, tables, and illustrations
  • Edit for policy issues
Illustration services include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Provide design guidance for development of information products
  • Provide advice on appropriate file development and formats for authors submitting graphics
  • Conceptualize and develop illustrations to enhance communication and increase visual appeal of information products
  • Develop original, or modify existing, illustrations (for example, photograph, drawing, rendering, or other technical illustration)
  • Design, develop, and arrange graphics for product covers, fact sheet banners, posters, and outreach materials to maximize visual interest
  • Apply USGS guidelines and conventions to illustrations, including USGS Visual Identity System guidelines
Production services include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Format documents using appropriate standardized templates
  • Corrections, proofreading, verification, and quality control
  • Design page layout of final report to maximize the publication appearance and readability
  • Import complex graphics and tables with text; integrate different software and file types into a single document
  • Prepare Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant PDFs for posting on website
Technical Editing Services
Editing services include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Edit for organization, incomplete presentation, and inconsistent statements. Review of figures and tables for size, logical arrangement, effective presentation, and reproducibility
  • Edit sentence structure and paragraphs to improve clarity; edit for all grammar, syntax, punctuation, word division, capitalization, signs and symbols, spelling, abbreviations, and units of measurement
  • Verification review to insure consistency amongst text, tables, and illustrations
  • Edit for policy issues
Technical Illustration Services
Illustration services include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Provide design guidance for development of information products
  • Provide advice on appropriate file development and formats for authors submitting graphics
  • Conceptualize and develop illustrations to enhance communication and increase visual appeal of information products
  • Develop original, or modify existing, illustrations (for example, photograph, drawing, rendering, or other technical illustration)
  • Design, develop, and arrange graphics for product covers, fact sheet banners, posters, and outreach materials to maximize visual interest
  • Apply USGS guidelines and conventions to illustrations, including USGS Visual Identity System guidelines
Production Services
Production services include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Format documents using appropriate standardized templates
  • Corrections, proofreading, verification, and quality control
  • Design page layout of final report to maximize the publication appearance and readability
  • Import complex graphics and tables with text; integrate different software and file types into a single document
  • Prepare Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant PDFs for posting on website

Step One

Planning

  1. Meet with the Publishing Service Center (PSC) Chief in the first author's local geographic area to discuss publication plans and select publication series
  2. Account for publishing support in project budget

Step Two

Writing

  1. Prepare book or fact sheet manuscript and/or map sheet(s)

Step Three

Tracking

  1. Create product record in USGS Information Product Data System (IPDS)

Step Four

Review

  1. Submit manuscript to supervisor and suggest peer reviewers
  2. Receive and reconcile peer review comments
  3. Complete internal (center) review steps, if applicable
  4. Revise manuscript and submit to supervisor for evaluation of reconciliation
  5. Obtain other technical reviews as appropriate
  6. Geologic names review may be done as part of the peer review, as a separate review, or as part of the SPN editorial review
  7. Review publication plans with Publishing Service Center (PSC) Chief
  8. Submit (FTP or email) manuscript to PSC Chief for editorial review
  9. Receive and reconcile editorial review comments, collaborating with editor as appropriate
  10. Revise manuscript

Step Five

Approval

  1. Submit revised manuscript (through supervisor) to center director and, if necessary, Bureau Approving Official, for approval
  2. Receive approved manuscript and address comments and revise manuscript if necessary

Step Six

Product Design and Publication

  1. Discuss final production plans with Publishing Service Center (PSC) Chief
  2. Submit manuscript to PSC for layout and publication (Optional: For open-file reports planned for online-only release, use open-file report style-converter template to format approved manuscript before submitting file(s) to PSC for Web posting)
  3. Review and approve publication layout proof provided by Publishing Service Center (PSC)
  4. For products to be printed, discuss printing and distribution plans with PSC Chief