NRPM Report Submission Procedures

Click here for a more detailed and printable version of these procedures (267 KB .pdf).

1. Decide if report content and scope is best suited for the national or regional report series. The national series is recommended in most cases.
2. Decide if the manuscript is better suited for the NRTR, NRR, or NRDS report series. Click here for help.
3. Select the format to use to publish the report (basic MS Word or the more polished Adobe InDesign format). Click here for help
4. Click here to download the appropriate document template and the mandatory NRPM Manuscript Submittal Form and Checklist (MSF).
   1. The document templates provide software-specific manuscript format examples and user guidance in accordance with NRPM policy as outlined in the Instructions to Authors Manual Version 3.1. A vast majoirty of authors and editors do not need to download the manual.
   2. The MSF includes all of the instructions that you need to peer review and submit your report for final publication.
5. Prepare the manuscript using the style standards provided in the downloaded template.
6. Obtain initial peer reviews by at least two, and preferably three, qualified reviewers.
7. Contact the appropriate NPS office to find out who will be the official Peer Review Manager working with you to perform the final peer review of your report.
   1. If you are not sure who to contact, email the Fort Collins NRSS office for help.
   2. For reports generated by a park or through an I&M Network, contact:
      1. The appropriate I&M Network Program Manager or I&M Network Data Manger.
      2. If you are not sure which network, here is a map of the individual I&M Networks.
   3. If the report was generated by multiple I&M Networks, or through an NPS I&M Regional office, contact the appropriate I&M Regional Program Manager(s).
   4. For reports generated by or through one of the Natural Resource Stewardship and Science (NRSS) Divisions, contact the appropriate NRSS Division Chief (NPS Only).
8. Fill in the first section of the MSF form, and submit it and the draft manuscript to the Peer Review Manger to begin the final peer review of your report.
9. The Peer Review Manager works with the person submitting the report to edit and update the report to meet the Peer Review Manager's standards.
   1. The end product of the final peer review should be an absolute final draft of the report that is ready for immediate publication. The only edits that should take place after this point are:
      1. Minor edits to correct things like typos and minor grammar issues.
      2. The changes required by the Fort Collins office during the publication review outlined in the steps below
   2. The Peer Review Manager also makes sure that the first and second sections of the MSF form are filled out correctly.
   3. Click here to see a list of NPS Peer Review Manager responsibilities.
10. After the peer review comments have been addressed, the person submitting the report sends the final draft of the peer-reviewed report (in either MS Word or Adobe PDF format), along with the MSF form, to the Fort Collins NRSS office for final review.
    1. If the final draft was created using:
       1. MS Word - the actual MS Word file(s) that make up the final draft is preferred (vast majority of reports). This will save everyone involved time and effort during the final review. Publishing in MS Word can be tricky, and we often need to see the actual MS Word files to figure out what may be wrong, and the best/fastest way to fix things.
       2. Adobe InDesign - the PDF version is preferred. Adobe InDesign files are much more stable and predictable than MS Word files, and we almost never need to see the actual InDesign files to explain how to fix something.
    2. The final draft of the report and MSF can be sent to the Fort Collis office by:
       1. Using an online file sharing site (FTP, SharePoint, etc.). This is the preferred method, especially if the final draft of the report is more than 5 MB in size.
       2. Attached to an email.
          • There is a 20 MB file size limit for NPS employees and a 10 MB limit for everyone else.
          • Sending files by email sometimes requires multiple attempts.
11. The NRSS office reviews the report, assigns the next number in the national series, obtains the NPS Technical Information Center (TIC) reference number, creates a draft reference in the IRMA online library (formerly NRInfo), and sends all pertinent information back to the person submitting the report.
12. The person submitting the report incorporates the final review comments into the report, and works with the Fort Collins NRSS office to upload the final Adobe PDF version of the report to the IRMA online library for permanent digital archiving, and submit it to the NPS Technical Information Center office for physical archiving.