This document summarizes a field study project conducted for the Army Research Laboratory to survey design features of scientific journals and federal technical reports. The study involved analyzing 36 top scientific journals and 23 federal technical reports to document their cover designs, internal design elements such as fonts and formatting of text, tables, and images. Common elements identified include the use of serif fonts for journal text, horizontal rules in tables, and simple one-column designs in reports. Style guides used include the Chicago Manual of Style for journals and the GPO Style Manual for federal publications.

1. Field Study Project for the Army Research Laboratory
Katie Rapp
April 22, 2013

2. Background slide 4
Scientific journals – selecting journals to
survey slide 5
Survey methodology – journals slide 8
Journal covers slide 12
Internal design – typical elements in
journals slide 20
Variations in journal design features slide
29
The front page – setting the tone slide 33
Additional design elements in journals
slide 40
Style guides in scientific journals slide 44
2

3. Federal technical reports – selecting
reports to survey slide 45
Survey methodology – reports slide 47
Report covers slide 49
Internal design – typical elements in
federal technical reports slide 58
Additional design elements in reports
slide 61
Survey of federal publications slide 67
Style guides used in federal
publications slide 68
3

4.  ARL Technical Publishing asked me to survey
leading scientific journals and federal
technical reports and gather information to
help them improve and update ARL technical
publications
 Information of interest includes:
◦ Style guides used for editing
◦ Journal and technical report cover designs
◦ Internal design features such as fonts, number of
columns, use of rules around tables and images
4

5.  I assembled a list of 36 journals using ARL
suggestions and SCImago Journal Rankings (SJR)
◦ The SJR uses the Google PageRank™ algorithm
◦ Shows visibility of journals in the Scopus® (Elsevier)
database
5

6.  The list includes the top 3 journals from SJR
in the following disciplines:
◦ Chemical engineering
◦ Chemistry
◦ Computer science
◦ Engineering
◦ Materials science
◦ Psychology
6

7.  Accounts of Chemical
Research
 ACM Computing Surveys
 ACS Nano
 Advances in Physics
 American Scientist
 Annual Review of
Biophysics
 Annual Review of
Clinical Psychology
 Annual Review of
Materials Research
 Annual Review of
Psychology
 Applied Mechanics
Reviews
 Applied Physics Letters
 Astrophysical Journal
 Catalysis Reviews -
Science and Engineering
 Chemical Reviews
 Chemical Society
Reviews
 Foundations and Trends
in Information Retrieval
 IEEE Communications
Surveys and Tutorials
 IEEE Journal of Solid-
State Circuits
 IEEE Transactions on
Pattern Analysis and
Machine Intelligence
 Journal of Applied
Mechanics
 Journal of Biological
Chemistry
 Journal of Catalysis
 Journal of Physical
Chemistry B
 Journal of the American
Chemical Society
 Nano Letters
 Nature
 Nature Biotechnology
 Nature Chemistry
 Nature Materials
 Nature Nanotechnology
 Nature Photonics
 Physical Review Letters
 Proceedings of the
Annual ACM-SIAM
Symposium on Discrete
Algorithms
 Psychological Bulletin
 Science
 Trends in Cognitive
Sciences
7

8.  I accessed a PDF of the latest issue of each
journal through University of Maryland
databases
◦ Printed a hard copy of a full article from each
journal
◦ Took a screen shot of the first page of an article
from each journal
 I used an Excel spreadsheet to collect and
organize data on each design feature of
interest for each journal
8

9.  I scrolled through articles until I found
examples of each design feature of interest in
each journal
◦ I recorded the data in the spreadsheet and took a
screen shot to document each design feature
◦ I took screen shots of any additional design
features of interest that I found in each journal and
also any anomalies (for example variable use of
rules around images)
9

10. 10

11.  I identified editors, obtained contact
information for each journal and asked them:
◦ Which style guide is used
◦ Which font and font size is used for main body text
in articles
11

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19. 19

20.  The typical journal in this survey uses:
◦ Two column text, full justification, paragraph
indents, a serif font such as Times New Roman
From Chemical Society Reviews
20

21.  The typical journal in this survey uses:
◦ No rules around images
◦ Tables with only horizontal rules (to set off column
headings as well as above and below tables)
From Chemical Society Reviews
21
From Journal of Applied Mechanics

22.  All of the scientific journals surveyed use full
justification for the main body text in articles
 Six of the 36 journals in the survey use left
justification
(ragged right) to
set off abstracts
 Some also set off
image
captions, figures,
and footnotes
with left
justification
From Science
22

23.  All surveyed journals use tabbed indents at
the beginning of new paragraphs
 However, almost two-thirds of the journals in
the survey use no indent for the first
paragraph in a new section or subsection in
the article.
From Chemical Society Reviews
23

24.  Over three-quarters of the surveyed journals
use two columns for main body article text
 Six use just one column
 Two publications (Science and American
Scientist) use three columns for text
From Annual Review of Biophysics
One column text
with space for
marginal notes
24

25.  Many journals use two columns for text, but a
different configuration (full page or 2/3 page)
for the title and abstract
From Applied Physics Letters
Two column
article text, but
one column for
title and abstract
25

26.  All but two of the journals (Accounts of
Chemical Research and ACS Nano) use a
serif-style font for main body text
◦ Many use a contrasting sans serif font to set off
titles, abstracts, captions and/or footnotes
From Nature Chemistry
Serif-style font
(Minion Pro) for
main body
text, with
contrasting sans
serif font used for
title and abstract
26

27.  I identified the serif-style fonts used in 20 of
the surveyed journals:
◦ Adapted Times Roman 12
◦ ArnoPro 10
◦ Janson 9/12
◦ Minion Pro 9.3
◦ Palatino Std 9.6
◦ Times 12
 Some fonts are used in multiple
publications, for example, Janson in the
Annual Reviews and Minion Pro in the Nature
publications
◦ Times New Roman 10/12
◦ Times New Roman 9
◦ Times Roman 9/10
◦ Times Roman 10/11.5
◦ Warnock Pro 9.75/11.75
27

28.  Over two-thirds of the surveyed journals use
only horizontal rules in tables
 Horizontal rules are used in a variety of ways
 The most common is a horizontal rule on top
and bottom of the table, and sometimes also
setting off the column headings
From Journal of Catalysis
Typical table with
horizontal rules
at top and
bottom and
setting off
column headings
28

29. From Applied Mechanics Reviews
From ACS Nano
From Journal of Physical Chemistry B
From Nature Materials
Horizontal rules
within shaded
box
Horizontal rules
at top and
bottom, column
headings in
shaded bar
Double rule at
top
Wide rule at
top, contrastin
g color
29

30.  Tables in the Annual Reports publications include
horizontal and vertical rules (inside the table
only, not framing the table). IEEE publications
include rules throughout the grid.
From Annual Review of Biophysics
From IEEE Transactions on Pattern
Analysis and Machine Intelligence
30

31. From Advances in Physics
 Almost two-thirds of the surveyed journals
use no rules around images and illustrations
31

32.  Two journals (Astrophysical Journal and
Trends in Cognitive Sciences) use rules
around illustrations consistently
 Ten journals use them occasionally or vary in
using rules
From Applied Mechanics Reviews
Rules
No rule
32

33.  Journals use a variety of design elements on
the first page of articles
From Nature Biotechnology
 Six of the 36
journals in the
survey set off the
abstract from the
main text with left
justification and a
ragged right edge
Title, authors, and
abstract left justified
across full page in
sans serif type
33

34.  Other common design elements for first
page:
◦ Vary width of title and abstract (full or 2/3 page)
◦ Use contrasting, sans serif font for title and abstract
◦ Indent one or both sides of abstract
◦ Use horizontal or vertical rules to set abstract apart
from main body text
◦ Shaded boxes, colored text and graphics are
additional design elements seen on the first page
34

35. From Journal of Catalysis
Rules to set
off abstract
and keywords
Title and authors
left justified
across full
page, abstract
full justification
across 2/3 page
35

36. From Applied Mechanics Reviews
From Journal of Biological Chemistry
Title and authors left
justified across full
page in sans serif
type, abstract inside
box
Title and abstract across
2/3 page, full
justification, sans serif
type for title, wide vertical
rule separating abstract
and title from authors
36

37. From Accounts of Chemical Research
Horizontal rules
above and
below, separating
abstract and graphic
element from title
and authors
Title and authors
centered across
full page, abstract
fully justified
across full
page, indented on
left and right
37

38. From ACS Nano
Title and authors
across full
page, title in serif
font (rest of article
sans serif)
Vertical color
bar on right
margin, colored
rule at top
Main body text on
first page divided
into 3 columns
with one used for
article information
(rest of article 2-
column)
Abstract across full
page in shaded
color box with
bottom color rule
and graphic element
38

39. From Science
Title, authors and
abstract across
2/3 page, sans
serif type, left
justification, ragge
d right
39

40. From Science
Article started
mid-page set off
with horizontal
rule
Contrasting sans serif
type used for
subheads, footnotes, capti
ons, and tables; captions
vary including multiple
columns and wrapping
around illustrations
From Science
40

41. From ACS Nano
Colored rule on top
and side with word
“Article” throughout
journal
From Annual Review of Clinical Psychology
Colored text used
for section
headings, margin
al notes with
horizontal rules
41

42. From Journal of Physical Chemistry B
Color used throughout
main body text – for
horizontal rule at top
of page and under
figures
From Journal of Physical Chemistry B
Color used for
section
headings, horizontal
rules, tables
42

43. From Annual Review of Biophysics
Summary points
placed in shaded box
at end of article
From Nano Letters
Initial drop cap in
contrasting color
43

44.  Chicago Manual of Style is, by far, the most
frequently-used style manual among the
peer-reviewed scientific journals surveyed
◦ Four journals reported using it alone and six more
use CMoS in conjunction with a house style
 Many journals use a house style
◦ ACS Style Guide
◦ Nature house style guide and Hart’s
Rules
◦ Publication Manual of the APA
◦ Other journals also noted use of a
house style
44

45.  I assembled 23 technical reports from a variety
of federal agencies using databases suggested
by ARL
◦ I searched the databases for examples of recent
technical reports, most from 2012 or 2013
45
Energy Citations Database

46.  Argonne National Laboratory
 Defense Nuclear Facilities
Safety Board
 Department of Energy
 Department of
Justice, National Institute of
Justice
 Ernest Orlando Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory
 Government Accountability
Office
 Idaho National Laboratory
 Los Alamos National
Laboratory
 National Institute of Standards
and Technology
 Naval Research Laboratory
 Oak Ridge National Laboratory
 Occupational Safety and Health
Administration
 Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory
 Sandia National Laboratories
 Savannah River National
Laboratory
 US Army Research Institute for
Behavioral and Social Sciences
46

47.  I accessed a PDF of each technical report
◦ Printed a hard copy of the report cover
47
SciTech Connect Database

48.  I scrolled through each technical report until I
found examples of each design feature of
interest (number of columns for main body
text, justification, tabbed paragraph
indents, rules around tables and
images, fonts)
 I recorded the data in the spreadsheet and
took a screen shot to document design
features of interest
48

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57. 57

58.  The typical report in this survey uses:
◦ One column text, left (ragged right) justification, no
tabbed paragraph indents, a serif font such as
Times New Roman
From Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Technical Report
58

59.  The typical report in this survey uses:
◦ No rules around images
◦ Tables with rules used throughout the full grid
From National Institute of Standards and Technology
Technical Report
59
From Los Alamos National Laboratory Technical Report

60.  Generally, federal technical reports in this
survey have simple design elements
◦ Over 80 percent use a single column for main body
text
◦ About 90 percent use left justification (ragged
right) throughout the report
◦ Two thirds of the surveyed reports use block
paragraphs (no tabbed indents to set off new
paragraphs)
◦ Some reports contain design elements that set
them apart such as headers and
footers, color, rules, sans serif type for
headings, and varied table formatting
60

61. 61
From Naval Research Laboratory Technical Report
From Naval Research Laboratory Technical Report
Alternating page
header with horizontal
rule and authors on
even pages
Alternating with report
title on odd pages

62. 62From Department of Energy Technical Report
Each page with header
containing agency name
and date in sans serif font
Each page with footer
containing report title and
page number in sans serif
font

63. 63
From Department of Energy Office of Health Safety and
Security Technical Report
Color section
heading, sub
heads, and
marginal
headings in
sans serif
font
Two
columns, no
paragraph
indents, ragge
d right
justification

64. 64
From Department of Energy Technical Report
Color section
headings
extending into
the left
margin

65. 65
From Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Technical Report
Color
subheads, no
paragraph
indent after
subhead Larger black
font for
section
headings, no
paragraph
indent after
section
heading

66. 66
From Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice
Technical Report
Tables with
horizontal
rules, color at
top and
bottom with
double rule at
top, sans serif
type
From Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice
Technical Report
Tables with
horizontal
rules and
alternating
shaded rows

67.  To collect additional data, I created an online
survey using Survey Monkey
◦ I asked about style guides and fonts used in federal
publications
◦ The survey was posted on the FEDLIB list serv
67

68.  Survey respondents described a
variety of style guides used in
government publications
◦ Most use or refer to the GPO Style
Manual in combination with
another style guide
68

69.  In addition to GPO, the following
style guides are used:
◦ ANSI/NISO Z39.18
◦ AP style
◦ Chicago Manual of Style
◦ Gregg Reference Manual
◦ Scientific Style and Format-7th
edition (Council of Science Editors)
◦ House styles (NIST and USGS)
69